


Back Bay Shuffle

by TheBowlcut



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Anxiety, Betrayal, Blood and Violence, Declarations Of Love, Depression, Developing Friendships, Domestic Violence, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Pre-Blind Betrayal, Romance, Sexual Violence, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2018-10-16 01:41:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 90,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10561266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBowlcut/pseuds/TheBowlcut
Summary: Hailey Miller walks out of the vault to a world she has no recollection of, and that she doesn't want to continue to live in. If it wasn't for her son, she would have never made it above ground. She was soft, and loving, nothing has prepared her for what rises to meet her. She struggles with the new world, but friendships and prospects of moving on, help her cope and help her shape herself into a stronger woman. Also~Title comes from a song by Artie Shaw from approximately 1938. Every chapter will be a song title, and I have plenty. :)





	1. Learning the Blues

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fan-fiction, and it's really the first time I've ever felt passion about writing, so I'm running with it. Please comment with whatever you can offer. I am also looking for someone to look over chapters and give me feed back, reach out if you want to do that :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey, Shaun and Nate retreat into the vault at the start of the war, Hailey wakes up alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading, I am re-posting this chapter completely as of 8/3/2017, when I first posted this chapter, I didn't have a beta-reader. Now, thanks to lobitoglobo this chapter has been edited as it so drastically needed. 
> 
> Song by Frank Sinatra.

_“Manual override initiated. Cryogenic stasis suspended.”_

_Breathe in, breathe out._

_Concentrate Hailey, where are you?_

Suddenly, it all came back. It was foggy but it slowly started to piece together.

_Nate, Shaun, where are they? Where am I?_

She started to move her head slowly, lolling it around on her shoulders, her neck loosening up. She cracked open her eyelids, just to be dazed by bright lights. And, just as suddenly, the fog cleared and she remembered everything.

_Oh god, the bombs… We’re in the vault, we made it._

Hailey slowly started to take in her surroundings; She looked down and recognized the vault suit, sparking a memory of putting it on. The glass on her supposed “decontamination pod” showed signs of thawing out, the water droplets hypnotizing her. After a moment, her eyes refocused, and another memory resurfaced. Nate and Shaun were in the pod across from hers, probably just as confused as she was.

“ _This is the one, here.”_

At the sound of the voice, her eyes snapped open. _The one? Who are they talking about?_ She saw a figure in what looked like a white hazmat suit outside of Nate and Shaun’s pod. The cogs in her head started to turn. _What are they going to do?_ As if the figure outside of the pod could read her mind, they opened their mouth and spoke in a low, gravelly voice.

“Open it.”

She heard a loud whirring noise as the pod slowly started to open. Her stomach dropped as she saw Nate moving inside.

“Is it over? Are we safe?” He started to cough as he finished talking.

“Almost. Everything is going to be fine.” The figured replied. With her past experiences, when that phrase was being used, everything was most likely _not_ going to be fine.

Hailey started to channel all her energy possible into her arms, slowly trying to bang them on the glass, to draw attention away from her husband and child. Her maternal instinct kicked in as she saw the figure in the hazmat suit reach out for Shaun. Hailey’s brain seemed to scream at her, pushing her harder; “That is your _baby_. Your flesh and blood; fight _harder_!”.

Nate, through his coughing, realized what was going on. He began to fight to hang onto Shaun, but the male raised his arm, blocking him. Her eyes darted to his hand, and she saw the unmistakable gleam of a pistol. A large pistol, probably a 0.44 or a 0.45.

“Let the boy go, I’ll only tell you once.” The male figure says, motioning to the figure in the hazmat suit to continue. The feeling in her stomach intensified, spreading to her limbs like a wildfire. Shaun began to cry and Nate continued to fight the stranger.

“No! I’m not giving you Shaun!” Nate cried out, struggling.

Time seemed to slow. The blood roared in her ears as a single shot rang out through the air. She tried to yell, but she was coughing to hard. _Nate! NATE!_ She slammed her hands against the glass, and watched her lover’s body slump against the hard padding of the pod. His arms fell in slow motion, and the hazmat figure took Shaun from him effortlessly.

“Goddamn it, get the kid out of here and let’s go.” The figure turned to Hailey; the man who had just killed her husband in cold blood leaned towards her glass window with a sneer on his face. “At least we still have the back up.” He remarked.

Hailey took a mental note of his face, what it looked like. He was bald, and had a large scar on his face. He holstered the pistol, and turned away from her. She heard the robotic voice announce the cryogenic sequence reinitializing, and felt the black swallow her up again as she slowly stopped moving, a tear still running down her face.

-0o0-

_“Critical failure in the cryogenic array. All vault residents must evacuate immediately.”_

Waking up and feeling the same confusion wasn’t as great the second time around. Hailey flexed her fingers and toes, anxiously staring ahead at Nate’s closed pod. Her own pod hissed as the seal cracked, then making the all too familiar whirring noise while it slowly opened. Hailey stepped out, shaking. Her legs felt like jelly, like a newborn calf trying to walk for the first time. She moved swiftly towards Nate’s pod, still too stiff from being on ice and she crashed into it. She held back a sob as she looked through the glass and saw Nate with a bullet hole between his half-opened eyes. She pressed her hand against the glass, her forehead following the motion. She opened her eyes, red with emotion, but her attention was drawn to the control stand next to the pod. Hailey reached out and slammed her fist down on the button, stepping back as the pod started to open.

Hailey’s eyes scanned him slowly, seeing the frost in his hair, the cold washing the color out of his gently tanned skin. His soft pink lips were chapped, even more so in death. She remembered how he used to chew on them while hunched over the desk at home, reading or focusing on some financial matter. His hair still looked as naturally perfect as it did that morning, when she had run her fingers through his dirty blonde hair while they laid in bed.

Hailey reached out and realized her hand was shaking as she gently touched his face. Her Nate didn’t respond to her touch as he usually did, sighing and leaning in towards it. He just stayed still, so cold and unmoving. She couldn’t hold back her tears as they ran freely, her throat tightening. His vivid green eyes were half open, stuck like that for who knows how long. She ran her hand down his face, then his neck, and eventually down to his left hand.

Hailey tried to remember the feel of him now, to drive her forward onto whatever the future has in store for her. She slid her fingers through his, and felt cold metal. His ring. What they used to seal their love on the sunny June day. It had been a simple but elegant wedding, and she couldn’t ask for anything more. She silently slid the ring off his finger and stepped back.

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his and couldn’t help but flinch at how they were cold and unresponsive. She gently lowered his eyelids all the way over his eyes, the green emeralds finally relieved of looking at this new, cruel world. She leaned her forehead against his chest and whispered one final goodbye and one final promise to avenge him and find their son.

With what felt like guilt, she shut her husband’s grave. One sad pod, alone, no family around like they had planned for when they had bought a grave plot before Nate deployed to Anchorage, just in case he came home wrapped in a flag.

She turned around and started to take in the destruction of what was once the pristine room. The paint was faded; she felt sickly as she stepped over a skeleton of a scientist, not raising her foot high enough and hooking the tip of her toes on the bones. They clattered and she cringed at the noise. She tried to retrace her steps from when they had first walked in the vault. Hailey glanced around, looking for any signs of human life, even though they clearly weren’t there. She walked past a large rectangle window, and could see more pods inside.

Hailey had been so distracted and overwhelmed when they had first walked in that she hadn’t noticed how large this place was. Her eyes scanned the pods intently, looking at the faces of her neighbors, and others who were “lucky” enough to make it into the vault on time.

Lucky enough to make it… what a weird expression. Hailey wasn’t feeling lucky at all.

As her brain started creating for her what could have been, her eyes unfocused slightly, getting blurry from what must have been more tears. Suddenly, a large bang rang out in the silence as something collided with the glass.

Hailey staggered back, not realizing she had gotten so close. She blinked away the tears and focused on what had flew against the window. _Giant roaches?_ She slowly mulled that idea through her mind. _This vault was sealed, right?_ She heard a small skittering sound and quickly grabbed what looked like a night stick before twisting it around. Running towards her was another roach. She quickly hit it with the baton and flinched back as some of the brown-green blood splattered on her shoes. Hailey stared in awe for a second, realizing that the radiation must have mutated the common cockroach into almost something dangerous.

Hailey normally wasn’t one to be easily scared by anything but her skin crawled as she navigated the vault. Coming to the vault’s entrance and only running into several more giant roaches, she had collected a 10mm pistol as well as a pretty decent supply of ammo, which she stored in a small leather bag slung across her body. She had also tucked the night stick in the bag, collapsing it down into a smaller size.

Hailey stood in the entryway and gazed at the sight before her, remarking how much just the inside of the facility had changed. She shivered at the thought of what the outside world must look like, if there’s even an outside to go to. She paced forward into the light, taking a mental note that there were spare vault suits here.

That was if she could ever work up the courage to come back to this place, this _graveyard_. It was the final resting place for her neighbors and her husband, the place where her only child, her _baby_ was stolen from her. She’s missing what could be his first moments right now; his first steps, his first words. Who knew how long it had been since Nate had died? Who knew if Shaun was even alive? Her stomach dropped at the thought, and she closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. She had to go on, for Nate. Her love, who wouldn’t have wanted her to give up and lay in that vault until she starved to death, or worse, decided to end it herself. She couldn’t let herself think that way. There wasn’t any point in dwelling on the past, when the world was still turning. She couldn’t let life pass her by when she had work to do.

Hailey opened her eyes, a newfound calm flowing through her veins. Whatever was on the surface, she was ready for; she would do _anything_ to get her baby back. With steel courage, she treaded forward, looking at the large 111 on the vault door. She noticed a button on a platform that probably opened the vault and walked towards it. Below, on the platform floor, a skeleton with what looked like a lab coat on was lying face down, caked in dust. Hailey’s eyes swept the pile of bones and quickly noticed an old Pip-Boy. She reached forward and picked it up, the old owner’s bones clattering to the floor. It was slightly dusty, but when she wiped off the screen, it was undamaged overall. Hailey fastened the Pip-Boy to her left wrist and looked at the vault controls.

There was a loud grinding noise, the stark contrast almost too much for her ears, compared to the silence in the vault. The door rolled to the side as an alarm went off and the walkway stretched out to her. It was as if it was welcoming her into her new life. Hailey strode forward with confidence, clutching the 10mm in her hands as she stepped into the vault elevator. She squinted upwards towards the surface, remembering when she had done the exact same thing when they first came into the vault. The elevator kicked into life as the doors to the surface slowly started to slide open.

Hailey started to squint at the brilliant white light flooded the elevator.

She was returning to a damaged, unfamiliar world.


	2. Blue Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey explores her old neighborhood, and wanders into Concord.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is Blue Skies by Red Norvo.  
> *EDITED ON 1/29/2018*

The grinding finally came to a stop as Hailey blinked rapidly, the sun hot on her face. After her eyes had adjusted, she took a quick look around to survey the damage from the bombs.

“ _Deep breaths, Hailey.”_ She looked around in awe at the state of the land. It was less green, but surprisingly, she could see that there were structures still standing. She could see the tip of the Red Rocket from the tall hill, and as her eyes traced the road farther down, she saw her street. Her skin began to break out in goosebumps as she took in the desolate neighborhood, her mind reeling with questions and agony. It felt like just yesterday that Nate and her had put Shaun in the stroller and taken a walk through the neighborhood, admiring the red-orange tint to the leaves and the cheesy Halloween decorations that her neighbors had pinned up.

Hailey’s eyes slowly scanned the land for signs of life and movement. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the sun reflect off a shiny metal surface, and that surface _was moving._ Hailey turned around and started to run, quickly becoming winded. As she jogged through the rusting metal gate, her brain reminded her of her screaming of her neighbors, the people who baked goods for each other on Christmas, and never let them spend a holiday alone. People who were there for her when Nate was away, checking in on her and making sure she was okay. Her mind raced as she crossed the little wooden bridge, and jogging around the corner, only to stop at full halt to register what she was witnessing.

Outside her house, trimming what was left of a very dead, black bush was a Mister Handy robot. He hummed slightly as he worked, looking quite pleased with the fruits of his labor.

“ _This is impossible, after all this time? Maybe it hadn’t been that long after all…”_ She thought, speechless.

The robot whirled around at the sound of her approaching footsteps, raising his arm and brandishing a rusted, worn down saw for attack. Hailey was taken aback when he did this; she guessed he had a reason to be so hostile, but didn’t he recognize her? As his eyes swiveled and took in her form, his arm lowered.

“Mum?” He called out hopefully in that familiar accent.

 Hailey felt as if she was going to pass out. Her first interaction in this new, wicked cruel world was with her own loyal Mister Handy, Codsworth.

“As I live and breathe… It’s you, it’s really YOU!” He yelled as he glided towards her. Hailey stepped forward towards him, her hand reaching out and touching the robot affectionately, surprised to run into someone that she knew immediately.

“Codsworth... you’re still here?” She nearly choked on her words, not realizing how dry her throat was.

“Oh mum, you don’t realize how horribly dreadful it’s been since you, Master Nate, and young Shaun had left.” He sighed. “I’m so pleased that you’re back, mum. I’ve kept the house in spectacular shape for your return. Speaking of which, where is Mister Nate? And young Shaun?”

Hailey bit her lip for a minute, trying to decide what to tell Codsworth. “They’re… they’re gone Codsworth. Someone came in and took Shaun from us, and they killed Nate in the process. I couldn’t do anything, I was trapped…” Hailey’s voice grew quieter as she said what had happened aloud for the first time, until her words became barely audible.

“Mum, now you know it does no good to be upset, how about I make you and Mister Nate’s favorite dinner? Does roast sound good? I’ll do those vegetables that you like to take your mind off this! All you need is a distraction, don’t worry about anything, in fact go for a walk with Mister Nate and Shaun, they’ll love that! Where are they by the way?” Codsworth ranted onwards without acknowledging what Hailey had just said. Hailey frowned slightly, realizing something wasn’t right with the robot. He seemed to have no idea that the geranium bush in front of him was withered and blackened.

“…Codsworth?” She called hesitantly.

“You must be starving; 200 years can really do a number on such a lady like you mum!” Codsworth said sternly. Hailey froze.

“200 years? Codsworth, a-are you serious?” she stuttered.

“Oh yes mum, probably about 210 give or take a couple of years due to the old chronometer, but back to my question mum, do you want me to whip up a quick bite before dinner for you?” Codsworth had replaced the serious tone with his usual cheerful one again, not pausing long enough between his thoughts to make sense.  

“Are you okay? Is something wrong?” She tried again to coax the robot out of his apparent breakdown, silently pleading that he snap out of it.

“It’s just… Oh! It’s just horrible, mum, I’ve been alone all these years, no one to serve and no one to talk to. I lied to you earlier, the house isn’t in spectacular condition, it’s just trashed! Nothing gets nuclear fallout out of vinyl wood, absolutely nothing!” Codsworth continued to sputter and rave about the cleanliness of the world and how there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Finally, Hailey cut him off. “Codsworth, focus buddy, stay with me.”

He seemed to calm down just a little bit, his robotic eyes not bulging as much anymore. “I’m afraid I don’t know more than you mum, the bombs fell and you all left so fast. I thought you and your family had died, and that I was doomed to walk alone for the rest of my days.”

Hailey’s heart sank; Codsworth, her loyal Mister Handy, had let her down. Her gaze fell to the dry yellow grass beneath her boots.

Codsworth seemed to detect her distress. “Mum?”

She lifted her head up, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

“Mum, I have this for you, I believe Mister Nate was going to give it to you, but other events transpired...” He handed her an orange and white square.

It was a holotape. Hailey ran her fingers over it slowly. She felt every detail, trying to imagine what Nate had done with this before he gave it to her, and where he had hidden it. She smiled softly when she saw Nate’s untidy scrawl on the holotape, that read _Hi Honey,_ a calm warmth spreading through her chest. She tucked it in her bag, deciding it was best to listen to it later. It was something private, something she didn’t want to share with anyone else.

Codsworth continued speaking. “Mum, shall we have a look around the neighborhood? Young Shaun may turn up yet!”

Hailey and Codsworth wandered meaninglessly around the neighborhood, from house to house, seeing what they could find. She learned a lot about her neighbors, and was surprised to find the houses looked almost untouched for 200 years. She found food, ammo, medical supplies, purified water and surprisingly, chems. Codsworth and Hailey came across some signs of hostile life. They worked together to kill what looked like giant horseflies; they buzzed loudly and exploded when they were killed, showering everything in their radius with fly blood and guts.

Hailey had also discovered an entrance to a cellar on the outside of one of the houses which had a decent supply of loot in it. There was a safe in here, and Hailey decided to test her luck at picking it. She reached up and pulled a bobby pin from the front of her hair, releasing her bangs in the process. She fiddled with the lock for a couple of minutes with the bobby pin and a flat-head screwdriver she had acquired and the safe opened. Just more ammo and, not surprisingly, some money. Hailey reached out for the cash but stopped when Codsworth informed her the new currency in this world was bottlecaps. Hailey paused, uncertain if the robot was trying to joke around with her or not, but he looked as serious as he possibly could.

“How do you know this Codsworth?” she asked him, arching her eyebrow.

Codsworth explained to her that he occasionally ventured out to Concord to look for her and Nate. He had run into some people trading and they were exchanging caps. He also said that he had to cut a few trips short because there were people shooting at him. Codsworth did mention that there were friendly people there at one time and that they might have seen something.

Hailey decided it was worth the risk to venture out, no matter how nervous she was. No one had passed through Sanctuary in some time. How was she going to track down Shaun’s kidnappers if she never stepped outside of her old home? She left immediately after finishing the rounds on the neighborhood with Codsworth. He told her that he could keep a watch out while she was gone and that he would see her soon.

She pushed aside her feelings of unease and anxiety as she passed over the old wooden bridge where the river flowed steadily below her. There were some holes in the bridge that she nimbly jumped over when she couldn’t walk around them.

As she neared the end of the bridge, a smell hit her nose like a ton of bricks and she covered her mouth suddenly feeling queasy; she saw two bodies, one of a man and one of what resembled a dog with a tire iron sticking out of it. She paused and looked from a distance, thinking on how sad it was that this man died out here alone, defending himself from a hairless, rabid dog.

She gazed up from the bodies at the statue that guarded Sanctuary. The Minutemen, historical guardians that protected the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against British rule in the Revolutionary War, the true patriots of America. That sole Minuteman would stand guard at that bridge for the rest of time, if he still stood after what the world had gone through already.

She continued forward, coming up to the Red Rocket that Nate and she would always walk to early in their relationship to get food and whiskey to walk down to the river at night and stargaze. Hailey laughed softly under her breath at the memory then felt a sad pang after, realizing that she’d never get to do that again; she was alone, and Nate was gone. Lost in thought, she continued to walk until she heard a small bark. She froze, thinking of the hairless dog that killed that man, wondering if she’d encounter the same fate not even a mile out of Sanctuary.

Her eyes darted to her right, just in time to see a brown and black blob come speeding towards her. She barely had time to react as it crashed into her, and where she had expected pain from a rabid dog tearing her apart, she realized that the dog was _licking_ her. She patted the blob of fur as she stood up to her knees, coming face to snout with a beautiful German Shepard. She looked around for any signs of an owner, hostile or friendly.

“You out here all alone buddy?” She asked the dog, as if he could understand her, but to her surprise he barked back at her as if to say, “ _You got that right lady.”_ She reached for the dog’s collar where a small piece of metal had “Dogmeat” scrawled into it crudely.

“Dogmeat, huh?” She cocked her head at the dog as he gave another affirming bark. She stood up all the way, and looked at the dog hard. Was it worth taking on an extra mouth to feed when she wasn’t even sure if she could feed herself? She did feel incredibly lonely already after just leaving Codsworth in Sanctuary while she ventured out into Concord.

As if the Commonwealth could read her mind, what looked like a naked mole rat, easily over two feet long popped out of the ground letting loose a nasty shriek as it barreled towards Dogmeat and her. Dogmeat wiggled his haunches, pinning his ears to his head, returning a low, deep growl to the mole rat, then he raced forward as Hailey was frozen watching this scene unfold in front of her.

Dogmeat made quick work of the mole rat, looking back at Hailey with blood on his snout, wagging his tail. He looked adorable, but lethal with that blood. She had made up her mind.

“Dogmeat, buddy, want to come with me?” He wagged his tail even harder, trotting over to her side to lick her hand softly. She took that as a yes and set off.

Other than running into a two-headed cow’s corpse guarded by two giant red mosquitos, the walk into Concord was easy enough. Hailey was in shock at how disheveled the town looked compared to her last visit here.

She and Nate had come into town just a couple of days prior to the bombs and picked up some Halloween candy in preparation for the onslaught of trick or treaters they got every year in Sanctuary Hills. The town, like everything else in this world, had been destroyed and picked through. Going through a couple of the houses though, she found some more ammo, food and purified water to bring along with her.

She was rifling through a drawer when she heard gunshots in the distance. Dogmeat pricked his ears up at the noise, his nails clicking against the concrete as he went to have a closer look. Hailey hesitantly followed the dog, the shots growing louder and louder. She crouched down as she heard yelling and rounded the edge of the building. She peeked around the corner and saw quite the scene spread out in front of her.

There was a man dressed in colonial clothes with a tricorn hat on, shooting at people down on the street who were dressed in leather and had elaborate metal and leather armor on. He seemed to be using some sort of laser rifle, one that you had to crank to load. The people on the street had a clear advantage on the man. Judging by how many more were running inside, it looked like it was his last stand. Hailey saw that there was another man dead in front of the building, dressed in the same style of clothing as the man on the roof.

As she watched the scene unfold, there was a small, unfamiliar twinge in Hailey’s stomach. It urged her to protect the underdog from the vicious looking people. She remembered how she learned to shoot as her hands flexed on the cool metal of the gun.

When Nate and Hailey had first started dating, he had taken her out to the range to teach her how to defend herself. She had loved it ever since, and it had become their favorite activity on the weekends. She and Nate weren’t hunters and certainly not murders, but the man on the roof looked like he would be more open to helping her than the people that littered the streets currently.

She carefully focused on who was the most accurate shot and began to creep her way forward, taking shelter behind a car. She leaned over the hood of the car and took aim right in between the attacker’s shoulder blades.

Hailey took a deep breath and held it. She waited for him to either reload, crouch down, or take cover. She pulled her attention to the male on the roof to make sure he was still alive, then darted her eyes back to the male in the street.

The male had what looked like black paint or oil smudged over his face and arms like a crude type of war paint. He wore a leather chest piece of armor that was open in the back, which was where she was taking her aim. Everything seemed to slow down as the man reached towards a new clip on his gun belt. She narrowed her eyes, looked down the sights, and pulled the trigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So our girl has made it to aid Preston Garvey, and the plot thickens. I just got to warn the hardcore Danse fans like myself, that this is a slow burn fic. I love this story and the ideas I have for it, so be patient with me.


	3. On the Street Where You Live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey meets Preston Garvey and his crew, as well as encountering her first wasteland danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta say thank you to my beta reader @lobitoglobo, shit's tight dude.
> 
> Chapter title is a Dean Martin song.

The world stopped as her target fell. A perfect hole right in between his shoulder blades, spraying blood gently on to the concrete, it slowly running red onto the ground as his comrades looked on in shock. This group of people might be less intelligent than normal attackers, since they didn’t notice what direction the shot had come from. Hailey took this time to duck down behind the car and catch her breath over her first kill. “That man was not a good man, he was attacking that helpless man on the roof”, she kept muttering to herself under her breath. She was secretly exhilarated and pleased with how decent her aim still was to shoot and kill him on the first try, and was almost eager to peer over the hood of the car again. Hailey could hear the laser rifle firing, and the screaming of the attackers down below the rifle. She gathered herself and leaned over the hood again, spotting the weak defense tactics of the disorganized group.

They had all focused back on the man again, and she carefully took another breath. She then leaned on the hood again, arms steady, and both eyes down the sight. She pulled back on the trigger again, loving how the gun slightly kicked up in her hands. Before the war, she used to conceal carry a 9mm for personal safety, Nate had insisted and Hailey wasn’t opposed to it at all. They would go out every weekend and practice shooting and now she regretted the times where she hated him for constantly making her practice, and preaching to her about proper gun control and safety tips. She dropped the gang of attackers, one by one, until the street was quiet when the last body hit the ground.

“Quick, we need your help! The raiders are almost to the door up here, grab that laser musket!” the man called out from above. _Raiders_ , that must be the name for the group of people attacking them. Hailey snatched up the “laser musket” as the man called it, and the fusion cell ammo that was commonly used for laser pistols and rifles. She recognized them from when Nate was in the military, as laser weapons were standard issue. She opened the door to what used to be The Museum of History, in her time, to see that the inside was in complete disarray. If the structural damage wasn’t enough, there were more raiders inside, firing at what she would assume to be the rest of the man’s companions. Hailey crouched down, and proceeded carefully, Dogmeat in tow, through the course of the museum. She jumped every time an animatronic moved and the sound kicked on, how it still worked after all this time, puzzled her. Of all the things to survive a nuclear war, and 200 years of post-apocalyptic damage, it was this. Her home was destroyed as well as the neighborhood, but the lights could still kick on and scare the shit out of her.

She could use this to her advantage though, to confuse the raiders, and take them by surprise gaining the advantage on them. She didn’t enjoy using the laser musket necessarily, but enjoyed the noise it made, and the smell of the gun after it fired off a round. She would get caught up in the heat of the battle, and quickly forget to crank the lever to load two more rounds into the chamber to be fired off. She eventually gave up, as she had to roll across the floor to dodge a particularly lucky shot by a raider, and slung the musket across her back, and pulled out her 10mm. She stood with her back pressed against the wall, trying to slow her harsh breathing, and then leaned around to fire off a couple of rounds at the raider, shooting her in the shoulder and stomach. Hailey heard the female raider groan and drop to the floor.

She neared the top floor of the museum, and she could hear the man from outside yelling, and the unmistakable sound of his laser musket being fired. She could hear two other male voices screaming back, yelling threats to this man. She crept around the corner and took aim at one of the two raiders, and shot him down, just as the man shot the other raider. Hailey stood up, reloaded her gun, and walked towards the now open door, of where the male was standing. The man introduced himself as Preston Garvey, leader of the Commonwealth Minutemen. Hailey had to hold back a laugh as he admitted his title to her. Being from before the war, she was familiar with what the Minutemen were and what they stood for, and that explained Preston’s choice of clothing. Preston introduced her to his remaining crew, Sturges, Mama Murphy, Marcy and Jun Long. They had come from Quincy, which Hailey knew of before the war, and was surprised to hear that it was still standing. Preston explained that a group called the Gunners had annihilated nearly all the Minutemen, and then as they travelled north, Preston had lost everyone except for these people with him now. Hailey could tell that he was emotionally and mentally exhausted, carrying the very large weight of his crew member’s deaths on his back. As he was telling his story, Dogmeat rested his head on Garvey’s knee, and Preston patted the dog’s head absentmindedly. Preston told Hailey that Mama Murphy talked about some place called “Sanctuary” that they were headed to, before getting ambushed by the raiders and being forced to bunker down here. At the mention of Sanctuary, Hailey’s heart fluttered slightly and she told Preston that she was from Sanctuary Hills, if that’s what he meant.

Eventually after Hailey had told Preston her story, and learned more about this new world, he asked Sturges to explain their plan on how to get out of here. Sturges looked like a nice man, with a southern accent, and seemed to be covered in grease. He explained to Hailey that there was a suit of prewar T-45 power armor and a minigun on the roof of the museum, and that she could help them by putting on the suit, pulling the minigun off of the vertibird, and laying out the rest of the raiders that would eventually try to get back into the museum again. He told her they must work quickly as they could already hear the raiders gathering outside. The only problem so far was that the suit was missing an “F.C” as Sturges said, and by the look on Hailey’s face, Preston clarified it was a fusion core, and they had seen one on the bottom level of the museum behind a locked door, and password protected computer. They hadn’t had enough time to grab it before headed up to barricade themselves in the office.

Hailey jogged back down to the bottom floor, as she could hear Preston and the raiders shooting at each other outside of the building. Hailey paused when she reached the metal cage, looking at the fusion core through the slats. She didn’t have a lot of experience in picking locks, as she was never a troublemaker, and never saw any practical use for it before the war. During law school, she did get familiar with computers and took a class on coding and programming as an elective. She quickly broke through the computer and disengaged the lock on the door. She found more ammo for her laser musket and 10mm, as well as the fusion core. _Score_ , she thought to herself as she jogged back upstairs, the shots still ringing through the empty building.

Hailey and Dogmeat stepped out onto the roof and found the vertibird and T-45. She also found a log from a member of the crew that crashed into the building. Hailey listened to the holotape as she was preparing the power armor. She turned the wheel on the back, and the armor made a satisfying hiss as it opened for her. She could tell that the fit wasn’t quite right as she climbed in, but it would have to do for now, as she had no tools or knowledge of power armor repair. She stepped through the ‘bird and ripped the minigun from the stand, and climbed to the roof of the building, above Preston on the building and began to rain fire down on the gang of raiders below.

They immediately focused their fire towards her, and she tried to move quickly, but the power armor was quite bulky and was rusted from years of not being used. Bullets pinged off her armor as she finished off the raiders one by one. As all of them either laid dead, or were bleeding out in the street, she looked over the edge of the roof at Preston who was smiling at her, life showing in his chocolate eyes, as well as a fire she hadn’t seen before. He whooped and threw his fist up in the air, and she returned the gesture. As she stepped back, and turned to get off the roof, there was a loud bang, as well as a deafening roar, from down the street. Dogmeat whined from the room on the other side of the vertibird, and Hailey’s stomach dropped as she squinted at what had emerged from a large sewer grate down the road.

“DEATHCLAW STRAIGHT AHEAD! UNLEASH FIRE!” Preston screamed up at her. The deathclaw was huge. It had to be at least ten feet tall at the shoulder, and it looked like it had crawled straight out of hell and not the sewer. It was a mixture of black, brown and tan, and appeared to be covered in a thick hide. It had huge horns that turned down and out from its demonic head, and as it ran closer at high speeds on all fours, Hailey could see the large dagger like claws that hung off its front hands, and the large claw on each back foot, which reminded her so much of the prehistoric velociraptors, that had been on displayed at the Museum of Natural History in the upper Boston area. The deathclaw’s hide was ricocheting much of the bullets and lasers being fired upon it. As it reached the area in front of the museum, it stood up on its hind legs and let loose a roar that made the hair on the back of Hailey’s neck stand straight up. The creature also stomped its feet and Hailey could feel the shockwave even on the roof. She did realize that the stomach of the deathclaw resembled a reptilian stomach, and had to be a point of weakness for the animal. Hailey began to focus that area as it was fully exposed and grinned behind her power armor helmet as the dark red blood spilled onto the pavement below. It swiped at the air, as if trying to reach her from above. The beast fell and shook the ground upon impact, it shuddered once, then went still, its claws relaxing. It’s blood slowly seeped out of its stomach.

Preston and his group had ventured out of their hiding spot, and wandered down to the foyer of the museum, and waited for Hailey to make her way down there. As she walked up, Preston was explaining to the group that they are walking to Sanctuary tonight, and that he doesn’t know how far that walk will be, so they can rest here for a couple of minutes.

“Hailey, right?” Preston greeted her as she walked up, and she just simply nodded her head. “Can I talk to you outside? I don’t think there will be anymore hostiles around after the ruckus we created.” He took the lead outside into the street. He glared out into the intersection of road, making sure his assumption was correct, and his eyes paused on the body of the deathclaw, still slowly leaking blood.

 “That was quite the display back there, and I think you’ll understand where I’m coming from, though, when I ask who the hell are you and how did you learn to shoot so well?” Hailey earlier had told him she was from Sanctuary, but made up a story about her being from a town up north, and had just came into this area, and had stayed there for a while. She looked at the ground, her throat tightening,

“Preston, I have to tell you I lied about my past earlier…” He looked at her with a wary eye, unconsciously tightening his grip on his laser musket. “I’m actually from before the war. I lived in Sanctuary Hills, and was a lawyer. I had a son, who as you know has gone missing, and yes, my husband is really dead as well.” She sniffled and paused for a moment, hoping that he would understand why it was so hard for her to tell the truth right away. Dogmeat whined and laid his head on top of her metal plated foot.

“I remember seeing the bomb hit, and the warmth of the aftershock sweeping over the top of my head as we were lowered down into our vault, 111. They had initially told us that the pods we were climbing into would decontaminate us and de-pressure us, so we could proceed lower into the vault. They really were cryogenic pods, and they froze us.” Her voice began to shake, as she continued to explain the horrible things that had happened to her family.

Preston sighed heavily, as if looking for something to say to comfort the woman in front of him, but never deciding on anything and settling for a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the man she had just met less than an hour ago and smiled at him gratefully.

“Preston, I can escort you and your group to Sanctuary, my Mr. Handy, Codsworth would be happy to help out your group and restore Sanctuary.” Preston smiled a genuine, warm smile and looked at Hailey.

“Perfect, let’s go grab the others.” As Preston briefed the group to their game plan, Hailey leaned against the wall by the older woman named Mama Murphy.

The woman looked up at Hailey, and said in a misty voice, “Your boy is alive still, I can feel his energy.”

Hailey snapped her head down to Mama Murphy’s level. “You what? How do you know? Where is he? Please tell me!”

Mama Murphy just smiled slightly and continued on with her misty voice, “A woman out of her time, searching for her long-lost son. It warms my heart to know that there’s people out there that don’t stop searching, no matter what happens, and how many years it might have been… The sight tells me bits and pieces kid, I can’t truly tell you where he is, but there’s someone who can help you. In the great green jewel of the Commonwealth, look for your Valentine, and he will lead you to someone with answers.” Hailey gave a puzzled look to the woman, wondering if she was senile. “And honey, bring Mama Murphy some jet if you ever want more answers. It fuels the sight.”

Hailey sighed and shook her head, of course the woman was a drug addict, how could she let herself get her hopes up like that? At the same time, there was a voice of reason in her head, “ _How did she know you were ‘a woman out of her time’?”_

Preston clapped his hands together loudly as he finished speaking to his group, snapping Hailey out of her thoughts. “Now Hailey here is going to lead the way, after you ma’am.” He held out his hand, and she took a couple of long strides to the door, and pressed it open.

They began to walk down the street, when Preston glared at the deathclaw and looked over at Sturges. “It’d be a shame to waste this meat Sturges. Do you have a knife on you?” Just as Hailey thought this couldn’t get any weirder, she watched Preston filet meat off the deathclaw’s carcass, and give it to Sturges, who put it into a pack he had with him lined in plastic. Preston chatted as he cut through the meat, giving Hailey tips about meat in the “wasteland”, as he called it. After they had finished with the deathclaw, they continued walking, Dogmeat carrying a bone from the deathclaw in his mouth, his tail wagging furiously, expressing his gratitude towards his new best friend, Preston.

They passed through the town, and Hailey’s senses were peaked as she listened hard for any noise now, seeing what the Commonwealth would throw at her next. They eventually came to the top of the hill by the Red Rocket mini mart, Marcy had to put her arm through Mama Murphy’s to help her keep moving. Hailey couldn’t stop her thought before it rose to the surface in her head, “ _Man, I see why it’s taken them so long to get here, we’re sitting ducks out here, waiting for her to catch up._ ” Luckily, they were close to the rickety wooden bridge, just as the sun was almost extinguished for the night.

She stopped just as they reached the bridge, waiting for Preston to catch up to her. “This is it Preston, this is my home. It’s surrounded by water, and most of the houses are ready to be inhabited right away with minimal work.” She looked proudly across the bridge.

“Hailey, there’s something I wanted to ask you...” He didn’t pause long enough for her to respond, as if his nerves were getting to him. “I’ve told you that I used to be a part of the Minutemen, and I still am, but I’m the only one left. The whole purpose of the Minutemen is to be there for the public to call upon for aid, and I want that to still be the purpose of the Minutemen, something bigger than we ever were. I believe you can lead us to that, just watching you today bring down the deathclaw, and honestly just stopping to help us was more than we needed.”

She smiled softly at him, mulling around his offer slowly. “Okay Garvey you’re on. I’ll need your help though as well, can’t be a wonderful leader without a good support.” She playfully elbowed him in the ribs, and immediately apologizing to him, as her power armor elbow knocked the wind out of him.

He wheezed a little then caught his breath, “Excellent, the Minutemen will love having you as their General.”

She looked at him in shock, “That’s quite the promotion Preston”.

He laughed softly and said, “You and I are the only 2 left, there’s no one to argue with me, and you’re the leader here. Now come on General, I think Sturges is going to cook up that deathclaw meat for us.” She laughed and continued to chat with him about the Minutemen as they headed across the bridge into the neighborhood, hearing Codsworth call out to her, made it almost feel familiar as home.


	4. Come go with Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey and Preston set out to help one of their first settlements.
> 
> Song by the Del-Vikings

Hailey walked through Sanctuary with Preston until she reached her sky-blue house. The other settlers, still wary from all that had happened to them, decided to sleep in a group at the yellow house across the road from hers. There was a nice power armor station already assembled there, and Hailey was too tired from the exhilarating first day out of the vault to move it to her house. As she stepped out of the armor, and finished chaining it to the frame, Preston pulled her aside.

“Hey General, sorry for bugging you with this right as you were settling in, but it’s time sensitive.” She nodded silently, and he continued, “As you know, my goal is to re-establish the Minutemen, and we’ve already had a settlement reach out for help. Tenpines Bluff to the east of here has requested our help as soon as possible. I was thinking, tomorrow we could consider it. I’ll escort you of course, I’ve been by there before. They were specific with their coordinates, so we can simply plug them into you Pip-Boy before we leave Sanctuary.”

“That sounds excellent Preston, we’ll stock up on supplies in the morning, then head that way. Good night, _Colonel_.” She winked and nodded to him yet again, this time in goodbye. She turned her back to him slowly walking back across the road, passing Marcy Long who sneered at her.

“Better not tell anyone about this place, _General_.” Hailey simply laughed and waved the rude, sarcastic woman away as she continued her path to home. Hailey just figured Marcy was upset from how long and wearing the day was, and she had the first watch.

Finally reaching her home, she found Codsworth in the kitchen, scrubbing away at the counters, trying to scrape the grime off. He wished her a good evening, and continued scrubbing. Hailey walked slowly down the hallway, and came to a halt at the second door on the right. She leaned her body against the doorframe and considered the room.

_Sun was shining in through the windows. She sighed softly, her hands smoothing her dress, looking at the mobile above the pristine crib. Suddenly, hands and arms wrapped around her. She smiled to her herself as Nate pressed his lips into her neck, his stubble tickling her, making her laugh softly as it tickled her pale skin. “I love you honey, our son is so beautiful. You did such a good job.” He whispers into her ear, and she turns around to kiss him softly._

This time when she turns around, the sunlight is gone. There are no arms around her waist, no baby in the crib, and no loving husband flashing a smile at her. Her head turned back towards the destroyed room. The blue of the crib still shines through, but the paint is chipped. Something catches her eye underneath the changing table. She walks in the room, crouching down to pick it up. She chuckles softly, thinking of the times she rocked back and forth in the chair by the crib, reading this little book to her son, _You’re Special!_ Lost in her thoughts, she wandered into her and Nate’s bed room. She glared at what their wonderful, plush king bed had become. She huffed out a small breath, and ran her hand through her hair. She set the book down onto their old dresser and headed out towards the living room. After carefully removing her armor, already feeling the soreness in her muscles, she reclined on the couch closing her eyes.

~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~

When she awoke, the sun had barely peaked over the horizon. She stretched, testing out her muscles for tender spots. _Not bad,_ she thought to herself.

“Ah! Good morning miss Hailey, I’ve taken the liberty of preparing you some breakfast! It’s not the best, but it is edible and these days, mum, that’s all that matters,” Codsworth set her plate down at the breakfast bar, and Hailey hesitantly sat down on a stool, wondering if it could support her weight after 200 years. She said a quiet thanks to Codsworth as he excused himself from the house, going to patrol the neighborhood. Her stomach rumbled, and she noticed how hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten since emerging from the vault. Hailey dug into the pan-fried cram, devouring it quickly, wiping her mouth just as she heard a knock on her door. She turned around in her seat to see Preston poking in his head. As he entered, he removed his hat and greeted her.

“General, I hope I’m not intruding. Are you ready to leave for Tenpines?” She nodded as she stood up to grab her armor, strapping it back on. “Do you have enough ammo?” He asked her with a tilt of his head, eyes going to her side bag.

“Yup, I’m all set. Punch in the coordinates, and let’s get moving while the day is young.” She smiled and held out her arm with the Pip-Boy to him, gesturing for him to enter the location into the map.

They set out across the bridge out of Sanctuary. Dogmeat followed them until the Red Rocket, then he whined softly, and Hailey patted him on the head. “Stay safe boy, go back to Sanctuary, I won’t be gone long.” Preston patted him on the head as well and Dogmeat gave a soft bark to them and turned away, his tail wagging as he sauntered back to home. Preston and Hailey continued their walk-through Concord, then to an excavation site. They steered clear of the site, hoping to avoid any hostiles and burn through their ammo before they even reached Tenpines.

They climbed a small hill, Hailey’s breath quickening from the exertion on her soft muscles. See could see Tenpines from this spot; It was just one lonely shack, with a fire out front, and a ruined house out back. As they walked into the settlement, a woman came out from behind the shack, with her gun raised, pointing it directly at Hailey’s head. Instinctively, Hailey raised both of her hands as a sign of mercy.

“What do you want? We don’t need any more trouble around here.” The woman looked at them with sharp eyes darting back and forth between their faces, reading their emotions.

Preston dared to step forward with a hand outreached, “Ma’am, I’m Preston Garvey, with the Commonwealth Minutemen. I believe you reached out for our help? Something about raiders?” The woman lowered the gun, and the man in the garden went back to tending to their tomatoes.

“Oh, thank god. You may not look like raiders, but you can never be too careful these days. To answer your question, yes, we do have a problem with raiders. They’ve been coming for our food and caps almost twice a week now. My husband tried to stand up to them, and now he’s buried on that hill.” Hailey felt a pang of sympathy for this recent widow, almost tempted to reach out and place a comforting hand on her, but the woman still had a tight grip on her pistol. She continued after pausing to sniffle, “They’re holed up in a factory in Lexington, the one where they used to make cars.”

“Ahhh, Corvega. I know where that is.” Hailey smiled softly at the women, “We’ll take care of them for you, don’t worry about it.” Hailey decided to reach out for the woman, and squeeze her upper arm, and smiled again at her. The woman seemed to calm under her touch, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you so much, I can’t put it into words about how much this means to us little guys,” the settler chuckled to herself for a second and smiled at Hailey. “Just remember that the Minutemen did this for you, and we got an even trade.” Hailey said. “We’ll return as soon as we clear out those raiders.”

Preston turned to Hailey after they had walked for about 10 minutes. “Wow, General you’re really a natural at this. Talking to settlers, and calming them down.” He shook his head, “I never felt like I had that. Colonel Hollis always was the diplomatic one.” He sighed, remembering his fallen comrade. “Hailey, I…I know I’ve mentioned the Quincy to you, but… I’ve never really told you the details.”

Hailey looked over at him. “Whenever you’re ready Preston, you know you can talk to me. I am your general after all.” She smiled and nudged him with her elbow in a teasing way, to try and lightening the mood.

He breathed out, almost a shaky breath, and continued to talk, his facial features hardening. “The Minutemen had established themselves in Quincy, as you know, and as the Minutemen grew larger and larger, they had gotten more complacent. Protecting settlements, providing aid to those who need it...things that made them Minutemen just weren’t as important anymore.” He took off his hat and ran his hand over his head. “What we least expected was one of our own to turn against us. Sturges reached out for help after Mama Murphy had a vision about Quincy being attacked. A man named Clint that was in Quincy with them decided to lead the Gunners in attacking the town. Colonel Hollis and I, with a few other Minutemen, went to their aid and we found the town was already under attack. We all fought hard, but eventually they found too many of our weak spots and no other Minutemen responded to help us. Colonel Hollis died…he was my commanding officer. I was supposed to have his back.” Preston visibly deflated as he spoke the last sentence, his shoulders slumping.

Hailey nodded as he spoke and stopped to look at him, seeing the mental damage on his face. She raised her hand to his back, resting it lightly. “Preston, I want to thank you for telling me this story and really opening up to me. I promise you, under my command, this will not happen again, and one day we will return to Quincy. We will avenge Colonel Hollis, I swear on it.” Hailey sighed, and wrapped her arm through Preston’s as they continued to walk through the Commonwealth.

On the horizon, Hailey could see the smoke stacks and blue of the Corvega plant. She pointed to it, and told Preston about it from her pre-war life. She told him about how it brought jobs to the Commonwealth, but was usually staffed by women, because all able-bodied men had been drafted.

Preston laid on his stomach next to Hailey as she looked through the scope on her rifle, a considerable distance from the factory. “Okay Preston, seems like there’s about 10 or more raiders on the outside, just from what I can see here.” She pulled her gaze away from the factory and turned to him. “How are we doing this?”

“Well I may actually know of a way in, without engaging the raiders outside. Depends on how quiet we can be. There’s a red pipe that we walked by on our way through Lexington and it looks like it could lead into the factory.” Preston indicated towards the eastern side of the factory. “If we could swing wide enough, then sneak our way to the pipe, we could catch them by surprise on the inside.” Hailey nodded.

“It’s worth a shot, Preston. Worse comes to worse, we can back off, and try to take out the outer raiders at a distance.” Hailey grunted as she lifted herself off the ground and began to walk to the east, keeping an eye on the raider patrols on top of the factory. They crouched down, moving slowly as they neared the pipe Preston had told her about. Hailey opened the grate as silently as possible, creeping through the pipe, until she could hear something rattling. She peered around the corner and there was a turret puttering back and forth, patrolling the pipe into the factory. She pulled out her 10mm pistol, which Sturges had installed a suppressor on, and fired off three shots, hitting the turret and watching it explode. They flinched as the machine burst, the sound echoing throughout the tunnel. She and Preston paused listening to see if any raiders had been attracted by the explosion. After it seemed like it was all clear, Preston set a mine at the entrance to the pipe, just in case the outer raiders had seen them going into the pipe.

Hailey and Preston made quick work of the raiders at the factory, and picked up a reasonable amount of scrap metal from the coolant caps and other parts to the cars that hadn’t moved in 200 years. When they made it to the final room, Hailey was successful in rebooting a protectron to attack the raiders and their turrets. They also found a decent supply of ammo, a nice sniper rifle that Hailey could use instead of a hunting rifle she found, and an emergency supply of stimpacks and chems.

As they exited the factory, Preston disarmed the mine and placed it back in his bag. “For later.” He shrugged as he looked at Hailey.

They began to make the slow trek back to Tenpines, just as the sun was lowering on the horizon. As they walked along, Hailey and Preston chatted quietly, listening for any signs of movement. They froze as they heard a rustle and weird groaning to their right as they passed the Super-Duper Mart. Preston put his arm protectively in front of Hailey, to stop her from walking any farther. She looked on in horror as the figure crawled out of the shadows. _This must be what a feral ghoul is,_ Hailey thought to herself. The person, or what remained of it, was wearing rags for clothes; the sex of the ghoul was undeterminable from the rotted skin and bones. It looked at her with hunger as it began to move towards her. She didn’t move; she couldn’t. She was too caught up at looking at its rotten body and mouth. The remaining teeth were yellow and brown, and the smell of it overwhelmed her as it neared her. Preston was yelling, but it sounded like he was whispering. The ghoul barreled into her, and knocked her over. As it skidded for traction trying to recover from the pounce, Preston shot it in the head. Hailey looked up at Preston as he offered her his hand, trying to help her up.

“General, are you okay? Can you hear me? I was yelling at you to shoot it, and you didn’t move a muscle; you didn’t even blink; I was yelling at you to shoot it, but you were frozen.” He looked her over with concern in his eyes, seeing if she was hurt.

She grabbed his arm and pushed it away gently, trying to reassure him she was physically fine, but her mental state seeped through her words as she whispered, “Was that a feral ghoul Preston?” He nodded and she cleared her throat, trying to adjust her posture and attitude to what it was. “You told me about them, but I didn’t think they looked that…” She sighed, looking for a word to describe what she had seen. “…inhuman.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Hailey, there’s no good word to describe them. This is what the war has done to people. It’s best just to put them out of their misery, even if they were docile and human at one point. They aren’t those people anymore.” He touched her arm softly and a flicker of relief crossed his face when she smiled at him softly.

They didn’t talk anymore on their way to Tenpines. Preston could sense that Hailey needed time to process what just happened. As they walked back into Tenpines, Hailey smiled and informed the settlers that the raiders were gone and had received the message not to mess with them anymore. The settler was so grateful, and offered Hailey and Preston dinner and a safe spot to stay for the night, since it was dusk by the time they had arrived.

Hailey set up her sleeping bag and looked up at the stars in wonder; as she had never seen so many due to the lights of the city before the war. Despite how peaceful she felt as she fell asleep, she had nightmares of Nate turning into the feral ghoul that attacked her earlier, his vault suit hanging off of him in tatters.


	5. Nice and Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey works her way back to Sanctuary, enjoying the company she finds herself surrounded with, but heads out again towards Diamond City. She and Preston eventually come across a distress beacon, coming from an old police station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, I swear to god I am the worst about posting, but I have the next four days off, so I think I can crank out another chapter and a half before going back to work. Thanks again to my beta reader lobitoglobo, check out his stuff, it's pretty dank. 
> 
> Chapter title comes from a song by Frank Sinatra.

Hailey woke with a start, sweaty, from her nightmares of Nate. He had come up in her “dreams” ever since she had left the vault. The nightmare was usually a replay of what had happened when he died. The man with the scar across his face peering in at her is usually what caused her to jolt awake. This time it was the feel of rotten fingers and hands touching her soft skin, jaw snapping open and closed by her ear. The rotten fingers and hands used to be softer, touching her with care and love, and in certain moods, urgency. The jaw was still by her ear, but was usually slack, slow, deep breaths moving her hair gently in the early hours of the morning.

Hailey sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, peering at the sky through the hole in the roof. It was a mix of pink and orange; dawn had come again in this never-ending wasteland. She noticed that Preston was already awake, his sleeping bag rolled up next to hers, ready for travel. As she walked out of the shack, Preston was sitting on a stump in front of a cooking pot, making everyone breakfast.

“Good morning General, pull up a stump.” He smiled at her, looking very happy for this early in the morning. “I hope you got some decent sleep, we’ll be leaving here after breakfast to return to Sanctuary.” He passed her an old blue ceramic bowl filled with warm pork and beans.

She yawned while taking slow bites of her breakfast. “Preston, how are you so cheery this early in the morning? All I want to do is go back to bed.”

Preston shrugged, “My life in the Commonwealth has trained my body to wake up earlier, and function with less amounts of sleep. You’ll get there General.”

She chuckled quietly. “Yeah, I highly doubt that, but we’ll see.” She always slept in late, Nate would always get on her nerves, as he would usually make breakfast then come in and harass her into getting up to eat it with him. She frowned barely thinking of how little of a problem that really was, now looking back on it. She would give anything to have Nate come running in, jumping on the bed until she woke up and smelled hash browns cooking on the stove. Here she was now though, eating warm beans out of a dirty blue bowl in the middle of nowhere. She could only stay upset for so long before she realized it wasn’t worth it anymore. That day wasn’t today though, and she stewed in her bad mood as Preston tried to cheer her up with idle conversation.

Once the settlers had woken up and eaten with Preston and Hailey, they said their goodbyes and the settlers thanked them one last time, giving them some food and purified water to take back to Sanctuary. Preston and Hailey talked about anything but the past as they made their way back to Sanctuary, surprisingly not running into anything dangerous.

“I can see why you like being a part of the Minutemen. That felt good to help those settlers and see them finally get to relax a bit. The caps don’t hurt either.” Hailey turned and looked at Preston as he smiled at her, warmth flooding to his chocolate eyes. Hailey could tell that he was more involved and passionate about the Minutemen than she had ever been about anything in her pre-war life. She had quit her job as a lawyer when Nate and she had gotten married. Women were expected to be the perfect housewife, and she had tried. It was hard to be the perfect housewife when Nate was constantly on deployment, only returning home on leave once every few months. They were married for two years and she had seen him for maybe one to two months of those two years.

Once she had found out she was pregnant with Shaun, something changed in Nate. He was growing more frustrated with his deployments, and was unfocused in the field. His letters were scrawled on napkins, where the writing had nearly ripped through the thin paper. Eventually his distraction was almost the death of him when his unit walked into an active mine field in Anchorage. There were only two survivors. Nate was honorably discharged and given a metal for his dedication to stay and help the soldiers who were dying slowly on the ground. He had drug them out of the mine field, and had only managed to save one. The rest had died before the vertibirds had arrived for evac.

He was different when he had returned home. Hailey was about 6 months pregnant with Shaun and he often awoke in the middle of the night screaming, and flailing his limbs helplessly. She couldn’t take him out in public for long periods of time, just in case he went into one of his episodes while they were grabbing groceries at the Super-Duper Mart. After Shaun had been born, he slowly started to return to normal, he could go out into public again, and wasn’t having nightmares every night. Instead he was staying up late, reading to their son, working on their car, getting back to what made Nate himself. He even surprised her with flowers and dinners, and spontaneously danced with her when their favorite songs had come onto the radio.

Life wasn’t fair to their family. Just when things were returning to what they had once been in their love life, the bombs fell. Then their life together ended all at once. It was just her, and no one else. She used to try and sympathize with the women who were widows during the war, but nothing could ease her now, and she knew how futile her attempts were back then. Small things cheered her up, such as helping the settlers, but her depression ran deeper than a quick fix. She didn’t know if she was going to ever recover from the trauma and sorrow that filled her soul, making her feel like a ton of bricks.

The change in terrain from pavement to splintered wood shocked her at first, as they crossed the bridge back into Sanctuary. She had been caught up in Preston’s small chat and her thoughts. She looked up at the hill, her heart aching, as she remembered what was up there, and would be up there forever.

“Howdy General!” Sturges called out, as he was hammering away on a spare piece of metal from a house. She waved absentmindedly at Sturges and kept walking towards her house. She nodded at the other settlers as they passed and parted with Preston in her front yard. As she walked into the front door, Codsworth greeted her and inquired about her adventure with Preston. Hailey answered to be polite, but didn’t elaborate on anything. The robot seemed to sense something was wrong and continued with his work, trying not to disturb her any more than needed.

Hailey felt numb as she walked into her and Nate’s old bedroom. The wooden bed frame that was destroyed had been removed and had been replaced with a nice double bed, probably put there by Sturges while her and Preston were gone. She made a mental note to thank him later at dinner. Hailey shed her boots and armor and laid down on the bed, quickly drifting off into a deep sleep. She was so exhausted, no nightmares came to her, but then again, neither did any dreams.

~0o0~

“Mum! Colonel Garvey says that dinner is just about ready!” Codsworth sang out as Hailey stirred from her sleep. She groaned as she stretched her limbs, rubbing her eyes as she glared out the window at the sunset. She got up slowly, pulling on her boots, and pulling up her hair into a bun.

“Miss Hailey, Mr. Sturges has set up a wonderful dining room in the house across the street, that’s where dinner will be served.” Codsworth made a gesture with one of his robotic arms, as if to bow her out of the house. She turned around and thanked him politely, feeling guilty for not talking to him longer earlier.

She made her way across the street to the yellow house, looking at her power armor in the garage area, smiling softly, noticing that Sturges had built some sort of frame for it, and had chained it in place. She kicked a rock towards the house, gazing down at what used to be perfect asphalt. It would get hot enough to fry an egg on it the summer months. She reached out and wrapped her hand around one of the poles leading into the ground, swinging herself into the garage gently, just hard enough to give her an extra boost and skip to her step as she walked into the house to multiple voices chiding hello.

Hailey walked up behind Sturges and gently placed her hand on his back, thanking him for her bed and the power armor stand. His cheeks flushed lightly as he insisted it was no big deal in his sweet as tea southern accent. She sat down at the table after Preston insisted that he needed no help with finishing up dinner. She looked around at the settlers and suddenly felt warm inside as she realized what they were becoming to her. She felt at home with them, and genuinely appreciated their company and kindness. Since she had lost Nate and Shaun was kidnapped, she was learning not to take a day, a friend or an act of kindness for granted. She realized that she would do anything to protect these people that she had known for such a short time. All doubts she had about leading the Minutemen faded that instant, as she realized it was just the right thing to do; to help her fellow neighbor. Hailey looked at her settlers and smiled softly at the scene before her, reminding her of a classic ad of a family at a dinner table at Thanksgiving. She felt the warmth spread throughout her core as she continued to look at her settlers, her _friends._

Preston set down a large platter of meat that he explained to Hailey was from an irradiated animal called a radstag that he had shot earlier. They had also taken advantage of a neighboring settlement, called Abernathy Farm, and traded some scrap for tatos.

“When I spoke to Blake, the head of the family there, he told me about some raiders that had come through and shot his eldest daughter and stolen her locket from them. He told me where they’re located. It’s not far from here, it might be worth checking out.” Preston said, looking at Hailey while slowly chewing a piece of radstag.

Hailey returned his gaze, and after taking a swig of water, she suggested, “Well, we could consider it, and clear out that location. See if the Abernathy’s would support the Minutemen and establish a supply line or open trade with us.”

Preston smiled and shook his head. “Well don’t be upset with me general, but I’ve already talked to them about that, as soon as they brought it up. They said they would support the Minutemen if we helped them out with their raider troubles.”

“Damn Preston, sounds like a deal then. We’ll take care of it, as soon as I make that run to Diamond City.” Hailey gave him a disapproving look before continuing to eat, then quickly looked back up at him and winked at him when she saw the concern that crossed his face.

They chatted into the night, long after the sun was gone. The moon had risen and shone through the windows, lighting what the candlelight did not catch. Sturges and Preston eventually yawned and decided to retire and Hailey retreated to her humble abode as well. She felt they had a long day ahead of them tomorrow, as every day probably would be in the Commonwealth.

“Ahh, Miss Hailey, nice dinner I suppose?” Codsworth greeted her as she strolled back in, beer bottle still in hand.

“Yes, Codsworth it was. I’m sorry about not talking to you more about earlier. I am checking into the Diamond City lead tomorrow with Preston to try and find out more information about Shaun or his kidnappers. Hopefully we’ll find out something.” Hailey smiled at him and leaned her head out the front door and whistled for Dogmeat.

Dogmeat followed her back to her bedroom, and began to walk in circles on the rug to find a spot to lay down for the night. Hailey sighed and patted the mattress next to her, and laughed softly when he obeyed nearly immediately and hopped up onto the bed with her, laying his head on her stomach. Hailey rested her hand in his coarse hair and closed her eyes. She fell into a dreamless sleep that she was getting adjusted to, a smile still etched across her features.

~0o0~

She woke the next morning with four paws in her back, pushing her to the edge of the bed. As she glanced back over her shoulder, she saw Dogmeat sleeping soundly, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. She quietly got up and pulled on her vault suit and her leather armor. They would be heading out of Sanctuary today. She walked over to what was quickly becoming the main house in Sanctuary to find Preston re-heating some of last night’s radstag in a pan on a hot plate. Codsworth ventured into the house as well with two piping hot cups of coffee for her and her colonel.

“Well Preston, shall we get this show on the road? I doubt Diamond City is going anywhere, but the earlier we leave, the earlier we can come back.” Hailey remarked as she wrapped both hands around her coffee mug, taking a careful sip of coffee. Preston chuckled softly at her expression and finished his radstag. He grabbed his laser musket and she grabbed her 10mm, and they were off.

Codsworth bid them good luck and good bye as he handed her what would have resembled a sack lunch from 200 years ago. Preston and Hailey left their safe home once again to launch back into what was an unpredictable landscape at best.

They made their way back through Concord, this time headed south. Preston took the lead on this mission, as he had made his way through Diamond City once before. They came across a trader who was commonly referred to as “Trashcan Carla” and her two-headed cow, which Hailey learned were now referred to as brahmin. “Here to trade, rob me or just ask for directions to Diamond City?” Carla rudely asked, as if the last two happened more than the first suggestion. Hailey looked through her supplies and traded some caps for 10mm bullets, and successfully talked Carla into a lower price and to give her the directions to Diamond City for free.

“General, you really got a way with words. I have never seen anyone talk a trader down on their prices. I’ve only heard of what Carla does to people who try and fail.” Preston laughed.

“Well Preston, what can I say, I’m just a natural charmer. I was also a lawyer before the war, so I have a strong background in convincing people to think or do stuff that they don’t necessarily agree with.” Hailey looked over at him, and was met with a puzzled expression, “What exactly is a lawyer? I’ve never heard of one of those.”

“Other than money sucking vermin, as my dad would put it, they represented people in the court system when they went to trial. I was a defense lawyer, simply because I was in it for the money, and you made more money off guilty people than innocent people.” Preston gave her what almost looked like a disappointed look. “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t entirely defend guilty people; a rare innocent one would find their way to me every now and then. I was one of the best defense lawyers in Boston before the war, and before I got pregnant with Shaun.” She huffed at the memory of having to give up her passion temporarily while she was pregnant with Shaun. If only she had known how long that break was going to be. Instead of two years, it had turned into 200 years.

“God, damn it, just send out the kid and we’ll go away!” Preston and Hailey heard an angry yell in the distance, and they turned their heads sharply to the left as they changed their paths to sneak closer to the voices. An old Drumlin Diner sign peeked over the hill where an older lady and younger man were holed up inside, sticking pistols out the windows at two raiders. The male raider had dark brown hair and was dressed in a leather jacket, and the female raider was wearing a simple harness with a dirty white tank top and cargo pants. They both had rifles and seemed to be convinced that they were going to take this kid with them.

Hailey decided to stand and walk towards the raiders, even though Preston hissed at her to stay down. She lowered her pistol, “What’s going on here?” She questioned the male raider as she neared him. “This bitch’s son has snubbed me for the last time on his caps that he owes. I’m now collecting my collateral which is him and maybe this diner if she doesn’t give him up soon.” He sneered at Hailey as the female raider stared at her. “Fuck you Wolfgang! You’ll never get another cap from me again, my son is done with your jet!” The lady yelled from inside the diner.

“Trudy, shut the fuck up!” Wolfgang turned back to Hailey, ignoring the older lady. “So, what do you say sweetie, want to help Simone and I with this chore and we’ll split whatever is in there evenly?”

Hailey looked back at Preston and smiled softly before looking back to Wolfgang, “Wolfgang, right? I suggest you leave now, before things get any uglier.”

Wolfgang snorted and raised his rifle at Hailey as Trudy shot at him from the diner, understanding that Hailey was on her side, and they now had a clear advantage. Trudy successfully shot him in the shoulder as she whooped with glee from inside the diner, watching him hit the ground. She sank another round into his head. Hailey flinched back as Wolfgang’s blood coated her boots, but she barely had time to focus on that as the female raider, Simone had begun to snap out of her trance, and try to shoot Hailey. Hailey rolled to the side nimbly and aimed her gun in between Simone’s eyes, pulling the triggered almost lazily, as she watched the bullet hit directly where she wanted it to.

Hailey tucked her gun into to waistband as she searched both Simone’s and Wolfgang’s bodies, collecting random ammo and a handy bladed tire iron, that was far better than the police baton from the vault. Hailey quickly ducked inside the diner to check on Trudy and was introduced to her son, Patrick, who was sitting on the floor by a booth. Trudy thanked Hailey for her help by giving her a small sum of caps and offering a discount to their store if she ever came through here again.

Hailey and Preston continued their way, making their way down towards the Corvega factory, which was still silent from their sweep the other day. They managed to make it through Lexington without running into anything unsavory. As they drew closer to the river, Hailey’s pip-boy beeped and she glanced down seeing _Military Frequency AF95_ on her radio. When Hailey tuned into the station a women’s voice came through requesting aid at the old Cambridge Police Station for an organization called the Brotherhood of Steel.

As they drew closer to the coordinates listed on the radio, Preston and Hailey could hear gunfire and the unmistakable growl of feral ghouls. Hailey held back a shiver as she nodded at Preston to continue forward through the side of the fence surrounding the police station. They came into an open yard, and quickly were occupied by attacking a large horde of feral ghouls. Hailey did have a quick moment to glance at the people who requested their aid. The young women who must have made the message was bent over a male in an orange flight suit who had a large patch of blood on his side of his uniform that was cut open as the women inspected the damage.

There was the unmistakable sound of a laser rifle being fired off, and as Hailey’s eyes swept the yard she was surprised to see a man standing in a suit of power armor, cutting down ferals left and right. She was shocked she had not noticed him before. She was in awe of his size and stature, the sun glinting off his power armor as he yelled, “Ad victoriam!” and reloaded his gun. She quickly resumed firing after shaking herself out of the stunned silence she was in after looking at the rag tag team and its leader. Soon after this, the last ghoul had fallen, and she crouched down to retie her boot, after holstering her 10mm.

As she finished retying her boot, a shadow engulfed her as a rough voice spoke out, “Thank you for your assistance civilian, it was much needed. Who are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so damn excited that she has finally come to the point of meeting the wonderful tin can man. I'm nervous about writing him, so we'll see how it goes and how fast I'm able to put out chapters. 
> 
> Once again, feel free to leave comments or kudos.


	6. La Vie en Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey, Preston and Paladin Danse travel to Arc Jet systems and recover the deep range transmitter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in one week? Yeah, was going to wait to post this, but decided why not, fuck it. So here it is.

“Who are you?” The man in power armor repeated. Hailey stared at him a minute longer, deciding whether she should lie or not. His bushy eyebrows furrowed as the silence grew. Hailey exhaled, “I’m from a vault north of here, 111. In Sanctuary Hills.” The man’s eyebrows rose as he widened his eyes.

“That vault doesn’t sound familiar, and you don’t fight like a vault dweller. You may be wearing the jumpsuit, but I’m not entirely convinced.” He frowned again as he was trying to decide what to say.

“Preston Garvey, colonel of the Commonwealth Minutemen.” Preston nodded his head towards the man. The man scoffed and almost let out a dry laugh.

“I thought the Minutemen were gone due to their lack of communication and organization.” He shook his head.

Preston pursed his lips, but Hailey was the first one to speak. “The Minutemen are back, and you’re looking at their General. Obviously, we’re capable enough to save your asses, so back off.” Hailey glared at him, amazed by the man’s general rudeness towards people who might have just saved his and his teammates lives.

The man’s cheeks turned pink, and he exhaled roughly, “I supposed you have a point, and excuse me _General…?”_ He paused waiting for her name.

“Miller. Hailey Miller.” She said through gritted teeth.

“All right Miller, I’m Paladin Danse of the Brotherhood of Steel. I am stationed here at this pre-war police station, with my two remaining team members Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys. We’ve lost communication with our leader in the Capital Wasteland, and this building has an advanced communication system that Scribe Haylen will be looking at.” He glanced back towards the entrance of the police station as the woman, Scribe Haylen, walked out.

“Sir, if I may.” She said, as Paladin Danse nodded for her to continue. “The communication system just needs a deep range transmitter, which I’ve tracked down to a pre-war company called ArcJet Systems which specialized in aerospace technology and communications systems. Before the bombs dropped, they announced completion of the project for the United States Space Administration. The deep range transmitter could be considered a ‘glorified radio’, but it’s what we need to reach the Citadel in the Capital Wasteland to request back up.” Paladin Danse turned back towards Hailey after Scribe Haylen finished her short rant.

“ArcJet Systems is just up the road from here. Unfortunately, with Knight Rhys hurt, we might have to wait until he’s strong enough to perform the mission with me. So, we could be looking at another two weeks without any back up.” The Paladin seemed to bristle with frustration at these words. “Ever since we’ve been in the Commonwealth, it’s been non-stop bad news. As soldiers though, we must persevere and continue our mission, even if we die doing so.”

Hailey almost rolled her eyes at the man’s theatrics and tone. He reminded her of one of Nate’s commanding officers, who was absolutely convinced he was too important to even walk on the ground.

“What is the Brotherhood of Steel? I’ve never heard of them before.” The man looked like Hailey just insulted his ancestors. Preston muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like, “ _bigoted assholes.”_

The man hadn’t heard what Preston said, or he had ignored him, and then launched into a small speech: “The Brotherhood is what is left of the United States military forces. Formed by Roger Maxson shortly after the bombs had dropped.”

Hailey’s eyes widened. “ _Maxson, Captain Roger Maxson from Mariposa. Nate knew him.”_

Danse apparently didn’t notice Hailey’s surprise at the mention of Maxson and he continued: “The main tenants of the Brotherhood are obtaining technology and disposing of life forms that have been a collateral by product of that technology. There’s branches of the Brotherhood all over the United States, as far as California. As of right now, this area is under the control of the Eastern Brotherhood.”

“Well, Paladin Danse, I suppose Preston and I can lend you a hand as a gesture of good faith from the Minutemen. Just remember that.” Hailey heard Preston huff over her shoulder, as he wanted nothing to do with this man and his crew. Hailey ignored him because she was the one in charge.

Danse’s face relaxed, but he gave no hint of a smile. “Head into the police station and restock your supplies and ammo and I’ll prepare myself for this mission.” He said in a rough manner, as if he was trying to command her.

Hailey strode off in front of him, trying to wipe the blood off her boots in the dirt before the police station steps. She pulled open the blue door, thinking about the implications of helping the Brotherhood, wondering if they would ever return the favor towards the Minutemen. Her feelings wouldn’t necessarily be hurt if they didn’t; it was just the polite thing to do. Then again, from her interactions with Paladin Danse, it didn’t seem like this organization was able to keep diplomatic relations at all, unless their leader was much more charismatic. She was thankful that he was letting her use their supplies, as she grabbed a couple of stimpacks, rounds of 10mm ammo and a couple of fusion cells for the laser musket she had slung across her back. When she looked at her pip-boy it was surprising only half past noon, giving her plenty of time to help the Paladin and continue onwards to Diamond City. Preston had said it was only another hour or so away.

Hailey’s vision swept around the police station, catching Knight Rhys and Scribe Haylen in a corner to her right, Rhys grimacing as Haylen was stitching up his side. Hailey caught sight of two extra bags, wondering where the other two team members were or what had happened to them. Danse did note that Haylen, Rhys, and himself, were the only remaining team members in this area. The police station had files stacked everywhere to her left, and the desks were rusted and in generally bad condition. Other than the clutter on the inside, the building looked like a sound shelter. She rechecked her supplies one more time, then turned to the Paladin. “All set when you are Paladin Danse.”

“Let’s move out then civilian, try not to fall behind” He replied smugly. He flipped his power armor helmet in the air, then put it on. “ _Show off.”_ Hailey thought with a snort. She followed him out of the police station, making sure the blue door shut behind Preston, and they began to take off at a jogging pace.

They jogged along the road for a short time before the Paladin started to speak, sounding as if he wasn’t winded at all. “My team had been sent to this area due to Scribe Haylen had picking up some bizarre energy readings. All we know is that they’re short and inconsistent bursts of energy that could only be caused by a high level of technology. We were supposed to send our information back to the Citadel, but upon arrival to the police station, we discovered that the communication system was in worse shape than we thought. We’ve been here for approximately a month now, and have pieced it together by multiple search missions that this is our last component we need to acquire before we try to contact the Citadel.”

They began to slow as they could see some figures in the distance under a bridge. It looked like a pack brahmin and two civilians getting ambushed by three raiders.

“Weapons hot!” Danse yelled as he ran forward and took cover behind a destroyed car. Hailey could see one of the traders sink to the ground, clutching his stomach. She ran to a street light base opposite of Danse and pulled out her laser musket. The raiders were too far out to be hit accurately with her 10mm, and she didn’t feel like killing an innocent trader by accident. She cranked two cells into the chamber and held the gun steady as she aimed at the raider closest to her. She inhaled and held her breath then pulled the trigger. The raider’s head burst from the hit, covering the raider behind him in blood.

“You dumb BITCH!” the raider roared as he turned to fire upon Hailey. She quickly cranked two cells into the chamber once again, and repeated her process, this time hitting the raider in the chest and watching as he disintegrated into a pile of hot ash on the ground. To her left, Danse shot down the other raider as Preston ran in to check on the brahmin and the other trader.

“They’re dead, we were too late.” Preston called over to the pair.

“God, damn it.” Hailey muttered under her breath as she jogged over to the scene, crouching down by their bodies. She searched their packs and corpses, taking any ammo, medical supplies and food she came across.

“Don’t leave anything useful behind.” Paladin Danse chided in behind her. She fought the urge to reply sarcastically and stood up again, choosing to nod silently at the Paladin so they could continue to ArcJet.

They continued to jog along the road, only coming across a pack of feral dogs and a couple of bloat flies. Each time they came across hostiles, Danse launched into battle, firing rapidly, and usually yelling something along the lines of “For the Brotherhood!”. Hailey couldn’t help but laugh at him when he screamed that at the bloat flies, as if they knew anything about the Brotherhood and would even put the Brotherhood at risk. It didn’t stop Danse though. She could tell just how dedicated of a soldier he seemed to be, which explained his hard ass attitude. Anytime she used sarcasm or tried to joke with him, he only replied in serious tones, often appearing mad at her.

“He must be fun at parties.” She whispered to Preston after Danse got done lecturing her for laughing at one of his battle cries.

The group came upon a large dark grey and yellow building, that had light blue accents and a large sign that said ‘ArcJet Systems’ across the top of the building. Hailey recognized it from before the war. She had drove by it after coming back from Boston. They came to the front door and Paladin Danse turned to her, “Okay Miller and Garvey, we do this by the book. No cause for heroics. Stay in formation and follow me. Step lightly.” He turned and opened the front door raising his laser rifle.

As Hailey walked into the foyer of the building, she slung her laser musket across her back and pulled out her 10mm, checking to make sure it was loaded. They crept through the building slowly, and came to a room where a group of robots had been destroyed.

“Looks like the facilities’ security measures have already been disposed of. This would normally be a good sign, but look around Miller, there’s no spent ammo casings or a drop of blood in this room. This had to be the work of the Institute’s synths.” His face looked disgusted as he continued to scan the room.

“What are synths, exactly, Paladin?” Hailey asked, and she caught Danse by surprise as he jumped a little.

“Synths are an abomination of technology, meant to replace humans by being genetically engineered into the perfect specimen. They must be eradicated and whoever is creating them must be stopped. They sometimes look like humans, no different from you or I. Most of the time though, they resemble humans in structure but are made of exposed metal and wires. They are very dangerous and very intelligent.” He looked over at her horrified expression and tightened his lips. He continued to walk through the room into the small hallway beyond.

They reached another room, this one bigger than the last, and it appeared to be a dead end. Danse remarked that there must be a way to get through the door and instructed her to look around. She immediately saw a computer and began to try to break through the computer’s defenses. She failed twice then noticed another computer to her left. She walked over and noticed that this one was unlocked. When she logged in she saw that there was a password automatic reset button.

“Hey Preston, get on that other computer and I’ll read you this new password.”

Preston nodded with a quick, “Okay General.” He bent over the computer and looked at Hailey.

“New password is 9E76TH.”

“Got it General, we’re in. Here’s the door controls, unlocking now.” He clicked a couple of keys and the door slid open. They were immediately greeted with blue laser fire, and Hailey ducked behind a file cabinet. When she peered around her mouth fell open from the sight.

“Synths, open fire!” Paladin Danse yelled. An entire mechanical skeleton with bright yellow eyes was firing a laser pistol at the Paladin, the lasers ricocheting off his armor.

“Hostile enemies detected, engaging.” Said another synth that began to shoot at Hailey. She aimed at its head and after a couple of hits, the outer metal shell broke off and the synth’s internal wiring and brain were exposed. She continued to fire at the synth until it crumpled to the ground. As annoying as the synths were once the group had killed the six that had been waiting for them, she realized that they packed an amazing number of fusion cells on them.

They continued until they reached a large open room that was approximately 5 stories high and had a large rocket engine in the middle.

“The deep range transmitter should be on the top floor, but it appears the power is out. There should be a backup power generator on the bottom level, which we can reach from here. Let’s go.” Danse began to walk down the stairs, and Hailey was nervous to see if the stairs would crumble from their combined weights as they groaned under the mass of just Danse and his power armor.

They reached the bottom safely, and Hailey noticing the floor was severely charred underneath their feet. Squinting up, she realized this must be a testing chamber for the engine. Luckily it appeared as if the damage wasn’t recent and there seemed to be no one here other than the group with her. She instructed Danse to stand guard out in the chamber while she and Preston searched for the backup generator. It didn’t take Hailey long to find the computer which activated the power. Before she activated the power, she pulled a fusion core out of one of the generators to her left and was satisfied to see that nothing was affected by the removal of the core. She punched the command into the computer and a voice came over the intercom.

“ _Engine core primed, and ready for test fire.”_ As Hailey came back out of the back room, through the window in the test room, she could see Danse battling six synths on his own, as more came down from the balcony above.

Hailey panicked and ran over to the double doors and hit a red button. The doors slammed shut and Hailey ran back over to the testing window. She could see Danse quickly being backed into a corner, and without thinking about what she was going to do, Hailey punched the test fire red button in front of her.

“ _Prepping test fire. Firing in 5…4…”_

The voice over the intercom started and Danse turned to her in the window and was yelling something at her that she couldn’t hear over the intercom.

“ _3…2…1…Engine firing.”_ Hailey looked on in fear as she could see the engine spark and roar into life as a blue and orange flame appeared and immediately caught the synths on fire. They burned into ashes and Paladin Danse had his back to the flame, on his hands and knees, not moving. The engine stopped burning and Hailey rushed out, feeling the hot ground underneath her feet.

“Danse, oh my God! Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what else to do!” She crouched down next to him waiting for him to respond to her.

“I would have been cooked alive if it hadn’t been for my power armor. Also, it’s Paladin Danse, Miller. I’m okay, but never do anything that reckless again while you’re with me. Now let’s get into the elevator.” Danse grumbled and slowly got up off the floor.

They all crammed themselves into the elevator, Preston and Hailey taking extra caution to stay back from the Paladin because his power armor was still hot to the touch. After what felt like a long elevator ride, they came to a stop and the elevator dinged quietly before opening. They all headed out of the elevator and rounded the corner to find yet another room full of synths. Paladin Danse who was leading the group, threw a protective arm back over Hailey who was traveling close behind. He tucked her protectively behind him, shielding her from the synth’s fire.

She sought cover behind the edge of the wall, and made a quick run for it. “Stand back Danse, grenade going in!” She yelled as she pulled a frag grenade out from her pack and chucked it in the center of the room. She plugged her ears and turned away from the blast.

After the blast, no sounds emerged from the room. Danse stepped across the floor and checked the room, sounding the all clear. As Hailey checked the synths, she found the deep range transmitter on one of them. They searched the room for anything useful then took the maintenance elevator to the surface, which was even smaller than the other elevator. Luckily Danse’s armor had cooled enough for her to be able to stand against it. In the dark of the elevator, she looked up at his face. He was just staring straight ahead, as serious as ever, rifle in hand.  

Once the elevator opened and she stepped out into the sunlight, she checked her clock on the pip-boy. It was 4:24 pm. Doing this for the Brotherhood had taken longer than expected. She hoped they would have enough time to make it to Diamond City for the night. Danse stopped as they crossed the yard of ArcJet and turned towards Hailey.

“Well Miller, that could have been executed cleaner but we made it out with no injuries or casualties. This leads me onto two things. First, if you’ll give me the transmitter I’d like to compensate you for your cooperation in this operation.” She passed him the transmitter and he pushed his rifle into her hands. “This is my personal rifle that has been upgraded from standard Brotherhood issue. I call it Righteous Authority.”

Hailey looked at the rifle in shock, “Paladin, are you sure about this? Don’t you need it?” Danse sighed.

“Miller, it’s not the only weapon at my disposal. It’s probably my best, but I can upgrade the others I have. Now, second, I wanted to discuss your performance in ArcJet. You were collected and listened to orders well. Other than trying to disintegrate me, you handled your own, and were calm. I’d like to offer you a position in the Brotherhood. You would fit in amazingly and you’d have a strong group of brothers and sisters that would shed blood for you at any given moment.”

Hailey looked at Danse in shock yet again, wondering why he would want anyone like her under his command. She blushed slightly, and shook it off. “What would be your expectations of me in the Brotherhood?”

Preston scoffed to her left and butted his way into the conversation, his feelings for the Brotherhood coming through in his tone. “You’re seriously thinking of joining them…General? Don’t forget your obligations and commitment to lead the Minutemen.”

Hailey rounded on Garvey, embarrassed that he would challenge her authority in front of a man who was basically a stranger. Hailey hadn’t lead the Minutemen for long, and she liked Preston, but she had never had him speak to her like that, and he wasn’t about to start. “Colonel Garvey, may I remind you of my position with the Minutemen, and that I am your commanding officer? Do not speak to me like that. I have not forgot about my commitment to the Minutemen, I have helped the Paladin here as a gesture of good will towards the Brotherhood.”

 She ran her hand through her hair exhaling, and not giving Preston a second longer to retort to her, although he looked so ashamed of himself, she didn’t think he’d say anything like that again. She turned back to the Paladin. “As wrong as it was for Preston to say that, he has a point, and I would have to think about joining the Brotherhood. Right now, I must make it to Diamond City for a prior engagement.” She wasn’t quite sure about sharing her problems with Danse now, even though she was beginning to trust him.

Danse nodded his head in understanding. “It is a pretty big decision and I respect you for wanting to think on it. If you’re headed to Diamond City, feel free to follow me back to the police station in Cambridge and spend the night there. We have separate spaces that you and Garvey can sleep in.” He turned a little pink at these words, and Hailey wondered if he thought that her and Garvey were together. She decided to brush it off.

“Sounds good Paladin, lead the way, preferably at a slower pace. We can make it back before dark without running everywhere.” Danse waited for Hailey and Preston at the gate outside of ArcJet and began to lead the way back to the police station.

The walk back to the station was quiet and Preston eventually apologized to Hailey for speaking to her like that. They made their peace with each other and started to chat about improvements to Sanctuary and the location that the Abernathy’s asked them to clear out. Danse walked ahead of them, but Hailey could tell he was eavesdropping in on them. His head would be constantly turned to either the left or the right, acting like he was scanning the horizon, but he wasn’t as subtle as he hoped to be.

They pushed their way through the police station doors and found Rhys passed out already, with fresh bandages on his side that Haylen had placed there after they had left. Haylen was typing quietly at the terminal but peered up at them when they walked in. Danse handed her the transmitter and her eyes sparkled up at him. Hailey raised her eyebrows a little, her sixth sense telling her that there was something more going on there. Hailey gave Haylen a small smile when she thanked Hailey for helping with the retrieval of the transmitter.

Hailey sat down by a hot plate, and heated up a can of pork and beans and roasted some tatos and corn from Sanctuary’s ever growing garden. She grabbed her food and a can of purified water and decided to explore the police station.

She found herself on the roof in a blue patio chair. She stared off into the horizon, slowly eating her food in silence. The sky was an amazing orange and pink color, night quickly starting to fall. Hailey realized that this was the first time she had sat down and appreciated a sunset since she emerged from the vault. It had been a crazy week or so. She thought of herself before the war and what she was like, versus now. She was certainly braver, and more outspoken. Her thoughts were interrupted by the roof door slamming shut. She turned around and saw Danse standing there awkwardly in his armor, as if he’d treaded in on her in the middle of doing something she shouldn’t.

 “Uhm, Miller I didn’t expect to find you up here. Mind if I join you?”

She smiled at him warmly, “Yeah Danse, pull up a seat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thank you to my beta reader lobitoglobo, who puts up with all my rambling about this fic.
> 
> Super excited to give this Paladin life throughout this fiction. I'm playing around with the idea of changing perspectives, but not entirely 100% at this point in time. 
> 
> Chapter title is a song by Louis Armstrong.


	7. Ain't That a Kick in the Head?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danse, Hailey and Preston roll out to Diamond City in search of the mysterious detective, Nick Valentine. Song by Dean Martin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-Reader, lobitoglobo, thank you my man, you pull through every time.

Out of anyone in the police station, Hailey least expected Paladin Danse to sit up on the roof top with her, scanning the horizon. They were quiet while eating, and Hailey took that time to silently observe Danse. He had stepped out of his power armor, but left the back facing his chair so he could quickly jump back in, if needed. As soon as he sat down, it looked like a weight had been removed off his shoulders, and he sank into the blue and white chair as far as he possibly could.

He ate fast, and she chalked that up to his military training. Nate was always eating fast, scarfing down whatever was put in front of him. Nate had told her that in basic training you only had so much time to eat, and if you didn’t finish everything, you’d end up getting sick from how physically grueling the training was. After Danse had finished eating he enjoyed his Nuka-Cola very slowly, savoring the taste.

“It’s crazy that there’s still any food left from before the war.” Hailey started to say, and Danse turned his head towards her and nodded. She looked down at the  can of pork and beans in her hands.

“It’s also surprising that it’s still edible, and not too irradiated.” Danse chimed in. “I wouldn’t recommend eating large portions of it at a time and too closely together, but it holds up for meals quite well. I’ve tried hunting around Cambridge, but every time I venture out, I come across too many ghouls to fight on my own, and I have to come back.”

Hailey shuddered. “That’s one thing I’ll never get used to, is the feral ghouls. It’s bizarre to think that they used to be people, but their brains are basically mush at this point.”

“Exactly Miller, and that’s why they should be eradicated and disposed of. They’re a true nuisance to humanity trying to rebuild itself and move forward from the war.” Danse looked off into the ruins of Boston. “The city area is riddled with them, and super mutants. Disgusting creatures that prove man abused technology.” He spat this sentence, and Hailey looked over and frowned at him.

“What exactly are super mutants Paladin?” She watched his expression harden and his jaw clench as he went to answer her.

“In short they are mutated humans. The science behind it is these humans were infected with a virus called the Forced Evolutionary Virus, or the FEV for short. The FEV causes mutations of the cells. The mutant’s body regenerates cells 15% faster than a regular human.” Hailey nodded along, noticing that Danse’s face remained a blank slate, but he couldn’t hide that he was tense throughout this monologue.

“This causes the mutants to be immune to any disease or radiation poisoning, which would be a benefit towards humanity in a normal situation. Instead the mutants became self-absorbed and decided to demolish humans, because they view them as the weaker species. The mutants are granted superhuman strength and endurance through the FEV and grow to be up to 10 feet tall, heavily muscled and have green skin… lipless sneers…” Danse trailed off and widened his eyes a bit, as if he was imagining an encounter with one of these horrible beasts.

Hailey was sensing that he was having difficulties and she piped up, “I can see why they would be a problem to humanity at large. Does the Brotherhood exterminate ferals and super mutants whenever they can?” Hailey noticed Danse perked up at the mention of the Brotherhood.

“Yes, Miller, we do. Most of our missions require us to clean out a super mutant hive or a pack of feral ghouls. The other portion of missions is the recovery of technology from pre-war locations.” He smiled. “It’s a great honor to be a part of the Brotherhood and the active steps we’ve taken to better the life of the common man. Have you thought anymore about my offer?”

Hailey hesitated to answer immediately. She pondered the risk of telling him about vault 111 and of her life before the war. She settled on not lying, but just glazing over the truth of exactly who she was. “I would join right now, but as I mentioned earlier, I have prior commitments in Diamond City… my son has been kidnapped… and I am supposed to contact a detective that is in the city to help find my son.”

“Wow, Miller. I’m at a loss for words, my condolences. My team has not yet ventured out into the city, but if needed I can accompany you, I need to acquire some supplies for the police station; if you can’t tell, it’s not in the best shape.” Danse gestured to the area around him, and to the food on the ground.

“That would be excellent Paladin, I could always use an extra gun. This isn’t me committing to joining the Brotherhood by the way. I’m just taking advantage of the third gun. Even if my son wasn’t missing, I want to get the Minutemen established better, to prevent myself from taking on more than I can handle.” She chuckled and took a swig of water. Danse stood up and stretched.

“Well, it’s getting late, I better turn in if I’m going to Diamond City with you and Preston tomorrow. I’ll wake you up at 0600 hours.” Danse climbed back into his power armor and as quiet as possible walked back into the police station.

Hailey laughed silently because no matter how hard he tried, she could hear him trudging down the stairs. She waited until she heard the unmistakable hiss of his power armor and she began to gather up her trash from dinner.

She walked back into the police station and threw her trash in a nearby can. As she neared the bottom of the stairs, she could hear Preston and Haylen discussing the plans for a basic radio tower to improve settlements communication. _Just one more thing to worry about_ , Hailey thought.

Haylen looked up at Hailey as she came down the stairs. “Hey Hailey, Paladin Danse moved some of the desks over so you and Preston could sleep in there.”

Hailey smiled and thanked her quietly as she grabbed her pack and sleeping bad and headed over to the office space that was on the left side of the police station. She laid out her sleeping bag carefully and removed her boots and laid down on the hard floor. It also looked like Danse swept, because the floor wasn’t as dusty as it was everywhere else. She thanked him silently and rolled over her back to Haylen and Preston. As she drifted off she could hear the quiet laughter of her colonel and the scribe.

-0o0-

“Hey, Miller, it’s time to roll out.” Danse touched her arm hesitantly and gave her a small shake. She muttered something and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She went to put on her pip-boy and looked at the clock, grimacing. Exactly 0600, Danse was turning out to be painfully punctual. She woke up Preston and they gathered their belongings in sleepy silence.

She went into the police station lobby, stretching and yawning. She grabbed a box of 10mm ammo and a couple of fusion cells for the road. When she nodded that she was ready, they gathered up their packs and decided to head out.

Danse took the lead once again, stomping around the back of the building to the main road. He made a remark about how feral ghouls don’t stray far from the inner city, so they should be safe and sound on the main road.

They made their way around the outside of Cambridge coming to a large bridge that looked to lead directly into Boston. The toll bridge was almost drawn up due to a large boat that had crashed into the bridge. Danse crept closer with Preston and Hailey in tow. They could hear multiple people talking.

“I’m getting the jitters man, I gotta lay off the jet.” A male said.

Another replied, “No, you gotta stop mixing your jet with psycho. The psycho is what’s driving you...psycho.” They both started laughing.

“They’re raiders. I’d rather not waste my time on them, unless they fire upon us first.” Danse said trying to remain stealthy.

“Agreed, let’s see if we can sneak past them.” Preston remarked.

They began to move forward, stepping as light as possible for three people with one suit of power armor. Luckily, they made their way over the bridge, using a set of rickety wooden stairs that were handcrafted by someone who had even less carpentry skills than Hailey. They stood up and walked normally as soon as they were covered by the buildings.

“Hey that’s Fenway Park, it’s an old baseball stadium.” Hailey pointed to the worn out green brick of the large structure at the end of the street.

“If I’m not mistaken, that’s where Diamond City is located.” Preston said, “We should be able to go up here and take a right, I think there’s signs.”

As they got closer to the end of the street they could hear yelling and gunshots.

“Weapons hot, watch your fire and follow me.” Danse said.

Hailey followed behind and pulled out Righteous Authority and followed closely on Danse’s right side. They rounded the corner of the street and Hailey heard someone bellow, “STUPID PUNY HUMAN! MUTANTS WILL REIGN OVER ALL!” _Mutants,_ she thought, _those must be super mutants._

As if Danse was reading her mind, he turned to her, his eyes scanning her face. “Super mutants, aim carefully, they soak up a lot of ammo.”

They could now see several figures dressed in what looked like pre-war catchers’ gear and had their faces covered. They were firing at the super mutants, and the trio joined them. Hailey looked up and saw multiple super mutants. As meticulously as Danse was when he was describing them, nothing could sum them up more accurately than seeing them in person. When Danse had said they soaked up a lot of ammo he wasn’t joking. The three of them were accurate with their shots, but it took 5-10 rounds to bring down the mutants. After what seemed like hours, they had finally cleared the mutants.

The men in the catcher’s outfits gave thanks to the trio and they walked back towards Fenway. Hailey wandered across the battlegrounds to examine the super mutants up close. Danse and Preston followed her closely, while remaining quiet and not pressuring her to hurry as she searched the corpses and whatever else the mutants had stashed in their building. She took the extra guns and ammo, figuring she could trade them later at Diamond City, as there would most likely be traders established.

After she was done, they walked towards the stadium and through several checkpoints that were guarded by turrets. The turrets must have had some way to differentiate them from enemies, because they were not fired upon. They walked by several more of the men dressed in the catcher’s gear. They paid no attention to them and continued their patrols.

 “Danny! Open the gate, you can’t lock me out of the city! I live here. Tell the mayor to come talk to me himself like the synth he really is!” A woman was shrieking at the intercom by the entrance to Fenway.

“ _Piper, you know I can’t let you in, the mayor is really pissed off about what you wrote about him. I’m sorry.”_ The male voice said on the other side of the intercom.

“Oh boo-hoo McDonough, someone wrote mean things about you in a shitty local paper. Toughen up!” The woman Piper said, while hitting the intercom in her angst.

As they came up behind her, Piper turned around.

“Hey, you, come here. Play along.” She whispered to Hailey with a wink, all anger gone. “Oh, what’s that... you said you’re a trader up from Quincy? And you have enough supplies to keep the general store stocked for a month? Danny… are you hearing this? Do you want to be the one explaining to crazy Myrna that you turned away a perfectly normal trader?”

The voice behind the intercom sighed, “Alright stand back Piper… and company.”

Hailey could hear him fumbled with the buttons before the gate started to lift with a loud grinding sound. She winced at the noise, but walked forward with Piper and the two men when it was open enough to fit underneath.

“Piper! What is this nonsense? Danny was specifically instructed to _not_ let you in!” An older man who was pudgy and red in the face with frustration yelled at her. He stood next to two guards and radiated authority but at the same time, there was an overwhelming aura of smugness and arrogance.

He turned to Hailey, ignoring Piper’s taunts. “And you my dear, may I be the first to welcome you to our beloved city, our diamond in the rough.” He winked at Hailey and picked up her hand to shake it. When he reached out for her, she could feel Danse and Preston shift uncomfortably, their hands on their weapons.

“Yeah greatest house of cards in the Commonwealth, until the wind blows.” Piper snorted.

McDonough dropped Hailey’s hand and rounded again on Piper. “God, damn it Piper! Consider you and your sister on notice. One more chance, publish something like that in your paper again, and you’re out!”

Piper turned to Hailey, determined to bring her into this argument. “You see what this ‘wonderful’ mayor does to his citizens. Do you support freedom of the press?”

“It’s one of the most important parts of a free society, it’s in the constitution.” Danse and Preston nodded alongside Hailey, agreeing with her.

“Now, now ma’am, don’t let this disagreement ruin your view of the city before you even step inside it. What brings you to Diamond City?” McDonough asked, probing at Hailey.

“My son is missing, and I was told there was a detective here that could help.”

“Oh yes! Our beloved Mr. Valentine! He will help you, make sure to check out the many amenities Diamond City has to offer while you’re here. We’re the biggest hub in the Commonwealth.” He smiled, almost robotically and sauntered off with his personal guards up the stairs into the city.

Hailey turned and looked at her two companions and they both raised their eyebrows at the mayor as he walked away. They followed behind him, and Hailey could smell some sort of food on the wind as they climbed the stairs. They were awfully steep, but provided a nice view of the perfect baby blue sky. They reached the top of the stairs, and Hailey gasped.

_“Come on Hailey, we’re gonna miss the opening pitch!” Nate grabbed her hand as he ran up the stairs. There were a ton of people around them, and she struggled to keep up with him. It was her first time to Fenway to see the Red Sox play, and Nate was super excited to be taking her to her first game. He looked back at her when the stadium opened to admire her soft look of surprise as she peered at everything her eyes could see, taking it all in. There were yelling fans everywhere, dressed in red and white. Most everyone had their faces painted, Nate had his half red and half white, while Hailey went with the more modest two black bars underneath her eyes. His hand was warm on hers as he guided them to their seats._

She remembered one of their first dates with a sad smile on her face, remembering how that was the first time he kissed her in excitement from the Red Sox winning the game. Preston bumped into the back of her making her stumble and bringing her back to current time. The stadium now was shockingly empty, but just in the stadium seats. The field had become a hub of life, despite still being decorated for the Halloween of 2077. There were lights and tarps strung everywhere for shelter. In the middle was a big cook shack, which must have been producing the delicious smells. As she walked down the stairs, there was a small girl talking to Piper. She looked up and saw Hailey, calling up to her.

“Hey Blue! Thanks for having my back out there, feel free to come by my office. I want to interview you for a story on how Diamond City looks to an outsider.” Piper called over to Hailey.

Hailey smiled at the woman. “Okay, no problem, I’ll be by later.” _Blue,_ Hailey thought, _must be because of the vault suit._

The trio continued to walk forward, and Danse made a beeline for a counter with the sign “ _Commonwealth Weaponry”_ complete with two guns and the American flag. He greeted the shopkeeper, who introduced himself as Arturo.

Arturo kindly pointed Hailey and Preston in the right direction for Valentine’s detective agency while Danse drooled over a couple of laser rifles that Arturo had in stock. Hailey rounded the corner where a bright pink neon sign guided her towards a door for the detective agency.

Hailey opened the door, and was not shocked by the inside of the office. There were two desks, and multiple file cabinets with papers sticking out of the drawers. The whole office smelled like stale cigarette smoke, and there were multiple ash trays and cigarette cartons. There was a young woman muttering something over by a file cabinet.

The woman turned around to face them. She looked exhausted, her eyes surrounded by dark circles and bags under her eyes. “If you’re looking for the detective, don’t bother. He’s gone missing… I told him that he was walking into a trap, but he just smiled and disappeared.”

“Can I help? I really need to find him.” Hailey smiled softly for good measure, hoping the woman would agree.

“Yeah, knock yourself out.” She threw a file down on the table, “This was the case he was working on. He was headed to Park Street Station by Boston Commons. Good luck, he was investigating Skinny Malone’s gang, and they’re a rough bunch.”

Hailey skimmed through the file. “Old school gangsters huh? I think we can handle them.” She looked back at Preston and winked.

They walked out of the office with a map of how to get to Park Street Station, drawn by the detective himself. They met up with Danse at the noodle stand, after Hailey had talked to Arturo and traded in her extra guns and ammo for some upgraded leather armor.

“Nan-ni shimasho-ka?” The robot turned towards Hailey and Preston.

“Hey Takahashi, get me a cold one.” Preston laughed.

“Just say yes, that’s all he knows.” Danse said

“Nan-ni shimasho-ka?” Takahashi repeated.

“Yes.” Replied Hailey and Preston at the same time.

Shortly after, they were sitting with two piping hot bowls of ramen noodles. Hailey drank in the warm broth after finishing her noodles, the warmth spreading through her body. Suddenly there was a commotion behind them. She swiveled around on her stool only to be met with the scene of a man pointing a gun at another man who was crying on his knees.

“I know you’re a synth! He’s a replacement everyone!” The man with the gun yelled, looking around at the crowd with darting eyes.

“DROP THE GUN!” A guard said loudly as the other guards raised theirs in unison, all aiming at the man hysterically yelling at his friend.

“Please listen to me! He’s a replacement! The Institute will replace us all!” The man screamed, not lowering his gun.

Time seemed to slow as the guard yelled one more time, then pressed his finger to the trigger. The man with gun was hit directly in his head, and his head exploded, showering Hailey and Preston, as well as a couple of other citizens in a mixture of brain matter and blood. Hailey immediately retched, successfully keeping her food in her stomach, but coughing and heaving as she rose from her seat.

“Hear me loud and clear, THERE ARE NO SYNTHS IN DIAMOND CITY NOR WILL THERE EVER BE.” The guard articulated each word very loudly and clear so everyone could hear him. The man who had been accused of being a synth put his hand on the body, crying, and saying something about how he was his brother.

Hailey quickly pulled out a can of purified water and a rag from her pack, and soaked the rag and began to clean her face. Her hands were shaking so bad, and it was almost impossible for her to get everything off due to her tremors.

“Here Miller, let me help you with that. You’re in shock right now. Deep breaths.” Danse walked over to her, and took the rag out of her hands, dumping more water on it. He reached up with the rag, careful not to meet her skin with his, and gently wiped off her face, and even picked out some stuff from her hair. Hailey said a quiet thank you as Danse handed the rag off to Preston, and sat back down at the noodle bar, not offering to help him.

Preston raised his eyebrows at Hailey, and she just shrugged her shoulders. She hadn’t known Danse for very long, so nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He was very quiet after he had cleaned her face off and was red in the cheeks. Danse stood up abruptly and walked back over to Hailey and Preston.

“Garvey, Miller, I think it’s time for me to head back to Cambridge Police Station. If you need anything, or would like to accept my offer Miller, simply stop by. Good luck finding your son.” He shook both of their hands, very gently due to his power armor, said thank you to the pair, and stomped off towards the entrance of Diamond City.

“Well, that was weird. Who just leaves that quickly? Also, how does he know about your son?” Preston looked at her, frowning slightly.

“I guess that’s probably just Danse. He seems excessively formal. I’ll chalk that up to his Brotherhood training though. Him and I actually ate dinner on the roof last night, and talked about why I wasn’t joining the Brotherhood currently.” Hailey sighed.

“ _Currently?_ Does that mean you plan on joining them?” Preston was definitely frowning now.

Hailey tried to use as much authority as possible in her voice. “Preston, I told Danse that I want to work with establishing the Minutemen before I take on more responsibilities. Working with the Minutemen is great and all, but let’s not kid ourselves. My top priority is finding my son and killing the bastards that killed my husband.”

Preston turned a deep shade of red. “I’m sorry Hailey, I didn’t mean for that to sounds as mean as it came out.” He reached up and squeezed her arm gently. “Let’s go find our Valentine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, leave comments, kudos, whatever, it makes my day to see people are enjoying this.


	8. Save My Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey and Preston rescue our favorite synth detective from "Skinny" Malone.

Preston and Hailey walked up the metal stairs out of Diamond City and entered the unpredictable Commonwealth yet again. Hailey had entered the location into her Pip-Boy to take the fastest route there. She had been in Boston plenty of times, but after the bombs fell, it was too hard to remember the names of the street or where to turn. There was just too much rubble, and too much memories for her to be able to stay focused.

They rounded the edge of the stadium, and Hailey looked to her left, taking in the scene that they had caused by killing those super mutants. Their large bodies lay scattered in the same spots that they had fell. The guards of Diamond City weren’t too concerned with cleaning up the bodies, and Hailey figured it was a losing battle anyways, as more super mutants would probably move into that area, and the bodies would be replaced again and again with new ones. That was the Commonwealth circle of life.

As they neared the edge of the stadium, they came across a semi-truck and a couple of cars, piled into each other. Their coats of paint had long since rusted away. Hailey recognized the library as they came closer, the white building towering into the now gray sky. It had always reminded Hailey of the state buildings and the colonial architecture of the downtown historic district. The pair heard a rustling noise and froze in their paths, eyes darting around, trying to see what was making the noise.

 _Of course, why wouldn’t they be feral ghouls?_ Hailey thought, as she pulled out her 10mm pistol, crouching down to get a better shot at the ghoul. It was crouched down to the ground, picking through the garbage, searching for something. Its clothes hung off its skeletal frame, and it turned its head to Hailey as she pulled the trigger. The ghoul’s vibrant yellow eyes did not seem to fade as the ghoul fell back, dead, onto the ground. Another ghoul raced around the pileup of mangled metal, catching Preston off guard, knocking him over. Hailey raced towards Preston and kicked the ghoul off him, shooting it quickly in the head.

“Thanks for that, didn’t even see him coming. Must have been a stalker.” Preston said as he took off his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “The stalkers usually wait in the rubble until you don’t expect them, and then they attack you. They usually are in small packs, it’s easier for them to go by unnoticed.”

“So, there’s different types of ferals? God, as if they weren’t terrifying enough.” Hailey sighed, leaning down to adjust her armor, and tucking her 10mm back into the holster.

Hailey pulled her hair back off her neck and twisted it around her fingers, into a makeshift bun, letting it hang sloppily over her shoulders as she looked at the library. She chuckled softly, which earned her a bizarre look from Preston.

“I probably have a couple of books I need to return, they’re a little overdue. The fee is going to be horrible.” She pointed over to the library.

Preston shook his head and laughed, they continued their march as it started to rain softly. They shuffled along, Hailey frequently stopping to search through the tops of garbage cans, occasionally finding scrap metal, caps or ammo. She kicked a rock down the street and watched it tumble near a cathedral with bright red doors and candles outside. She recognized it after glancing up at the severely bent street sign. Trinity Plaza, accompanied by Trinity Church. It was a beautiful building, and it was beautiful on the inside. Hailey had been in once before.

_She flew down the street as rain pelted the windows of the car, the windshield wipers making their best effort to keep the view clear for her. Her face was stained with tears and runny mascara and she was still sobbing, which made it even harder to see. She wiped her nose hastily on the back of her hand as she pulled to the side of the road. Hailey held the Boston Bugle over her head sheltering her hair from the rain. The headline on the paper read ’314 American Soldiers Dead in Air Raid Attack in Anchorage’. She burst through the front of the church doors, finding it empty thankfully. She tried to keep composure as she walked up the aisle to the alter at the front of the church, lit with candles covering every surface. She knelt on her knees covering her face with her hands. She reached down and rubbed her stomach, which had begun to grow with her and Nate’s child. It’d been so long since she heard from Nate, he was moved to Anchorage. The pregnancy hormones mixed with the news of the air raid, drove her over the edge today. She knew that Nate was probably safe, but she couldn’t help the ever-nearing fear of existential dread passing over her. She hadn’t been in a church since her and Nate’s wedding, and before that it had been since she was a kid. She didn’t believe in God, but Nate’s family did, and this seemed to calm her at this moment. Hailey talked rapidly underneath her breath, trying to hold back her sobs. It felt good to vent to the air, to whatever was listening to her in that moment. She was so preoccupied with it, she didn’t realize the soft footsteps behind her of the nun. Hailey jumped as the woman touched her back gently and as she turned around, the nun smiled softly at her, seeming to understand why she was there._

“Hey… Hailey, I asked if you’re okay, can you hear me?” Preston stopped to look at her, concern plain on his face.

“Yeah, sorry Preston, just thinking. Better steer clear of the church, looks like there’s super mutants living there now.” Hailey gestured to the net of mystery meat dangling from the church’s front rafters. The bag dripped blood slowly, moving slightly in the wind.

“Yeah, I really have no desire to scope that out.” Preston turned to keep walking down the street, laser musket gripped tightly in his hands.

As they went down the street further, Hailey was surprised to see Hubris Comics still standing, and looking mostly intact. She scrunched her nose in disgust as a foul smell came off the building. She walked towards the door, looking at a body that had fallen right outside the building. There was a piece of paper sticking out of his pocket, and Hailey crouched down to pull it out of the man’s jacket. She opened the paper looking at the untidy scrawl that said: ‘ _Check out Hubris Comics, up Newbury Street. Store on the ground floor. Ought to be easy pickings. -VB”._

“We’ll have to check this out later, I make a reminder in my Pip-Boy.” Hailey tucked the note into her pocket as Preston nodded.

They continued their slow walk, as the Boston Commons opened before them. Hailey would never stop being surprised by the destruction man-kind had brought itself. The once green square in the middle of the city was now brown, the blue lake water now green and filled with algae and plants. Hailey and Nate had come to the Commons plenty of times, their first date was here, riding in the swan boats together and walking around downtown shopping. The swan boats were still intact apart from one which laid shattered in the middle of the small pool of water.

As they walked around the edge of the Commons, Hailey noticed that in white paint someone had wrote warnings and drew an “X” in the middle of a star. As weird as that was, there was another body strewn in front of a chained off gate. She bent down to inspect the body and saw another torn letter in the breast pocket of the man’s coat. It read in script: “ _You know how much I miss you. But it’s too dangerous. If you stay in Diamond City, at least I know you’re safe. If your mind’s really made up, then be careful. Travel at night. Stick to the river. And whatever you do, don’t go into the Common.”_ Hailey passed the note to Preston who scanned it quickly.

“I’ve always heard horrible things about the Common, but it seems pretty docile to me. To play on the safe side, we’ll steer clear. Park Street Station should be very close.” Preston extended his hand out and helped Hailey up as she grunted in agreeance.

They came to the subway station and edged carefully down the stairs, trying to open the door as quietly as possible. They closed the door behind them and found themselves at the top of an escalator. The stairwell was poorly lit, only a couple of candles and a lantern guided their way through the darkness. As they reached the bottom, voices grew louder.

“Skinny’s getting weak these days. We should have killed that meddling detective as soon as we found ‘em, but Malone just had to go off on us about the good ole’ days. Bullshit.” One voice said.

A gravelly voice cut back at him, “You better not let Malone’s new broad hear you say that, or she’ll start swinging that beloved bat of hers. She’s got a mean streak, that one.”

“You got that right, but the crazy ones are always more fun. In the bedroom and out.” The other voice retorted and they both laughed.

Hailey looked at Preston and rolled her eyes, as she pulled a frag grenade from her bag, gripping it tightly as she pulled the pin out. She glanced around the corner to see the two men leaned against an old service counter smoking cigars their guns laid against the side of the counter. She rolled the grenade quickly towards them and plugged her ears, leaning hard against the wall.

The men screamed as the grenade went off, and Preston quickly silenced them with two shots from his laser musket. Grenades weren’t the stealthiest or the cleanest way to dispose of enemies, but it did the job. Hailey quietly crept forward listening to the silence, as she looted what she could off the mangled men’s bodies. Her and Preston cleared the area, finding nothing of great significance and no more men.

They edged their way down the hallway, listening to people yelling on the lower level. As they walked down the stairs, Preston nudged her and pointed the barrel of his laser musket towards what looked like a bathroom scale and then towards a makeshift explosive on the wall. He mouthed _‘trap’_ and held up his finger to signal her to wait and watch as he disarmed it. He then cocked his head to the side, and began walking again. They could see several more men walking through the rubble of the train station below. This time, Preston pulled out a Molotov cocktail and chucked it as far as he could.

The flames engulfed two of the men, causing the other three to panic. They scrambled for their submachine guns, the tat-tat-tat of the shots ringing in Hailey’s ear as the ceramic tile began to chip off from the impact. She pulled out Righteous Authority and began to shoot rapidly at the trio. Preston successfully took down one and Hailey cleaned up the other two, one vaporizing from the accuracy of the shot.

Preston and Hailey paused, waiting to hear more footsteps and shouts, but none came. They walked down the stairs confidently, but still on alert. Hailey scavenged through the bodies and surrounding areas. They walked through the tunnels, and into a large opening, where construction equipment littered their surroundings.

The vault door was shut and a large 114 was painted across the door. Hailey and Preston strode up to the control panel, where Hailey opened the door using her Pip-Boy. She thought briefly of the last time she did that, and how different things were. She was underground still, but at vault 111, recently widowed and her heart was still raw. She was still scarred from what happened to her and her family, but the wounds were beginning to heal, and she was so close to Shaun. The nightmares were still prevalent in her sleep, but were dying down at last. She had only been out for a couple of weeks, but it felt like months from the emotional and mental wear and tear that the Commonwealth put her through.

The door grinded loudly, as the alarms came on and the lights were alerted the inhabitants to their newest intruders. The walkway extended out to them, and Hailey and Preston stepped on it lightly, with weapons at the ready.

“What the fuck? Those idiots knew not to open the door. Who’s there?” A voice called out, as a man in a tan suit holding a pistol walked around the corner.

The only sound that answered him was the shot that rang out from Hailey’s pistol as the man was hit directly in the head. He dropped to the floor, and the pair moved on.

They worked their way slowly to what seemed to be the entrance to the vault, which required Hailey and Preston to fall three levels down into a dead-end hallway with only one door out.

“Well here goes nothing…” Hailey muttered as they stepped into the vault, taking out two more of Skinny’s men. They all seemed to be dressed in suits, usually carrying a submachine gun or a 10mm pistol.

This vault was nothing like 111. It seemed to be dirtier and almost cheaper in appearance, and was extremely small. If they had a large population of people down here, it would be cramped. The bedrooms were equipped with bunk beds, and often only one dresser to store clothes, for 8 inhabitants. It all began to make sense as Hailey had some time to look through the computers and see that once again, Vault-Tec had decided to exploit the upper class into an experiment, as a reward for surviving the bombs.

“Are all of Vault-Tec vaults some sort of cover up for experiments?” Hailey wondered out loud as she read one terminal that documented the social scientists briefing from Vault-Tec.

“You know, I don’t think so because there’s a vault just outside Diamond City that has open trade with the Commonwealth and it doesn’t seem like it’s an experiment… I believe it’s vault 81.” Preston answered her as he read the terminal entry over her shoulder.

“What? Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? We’ll have to consider that, I want to interview the residents there and see if that’s true or not.” Hailey entered it into her Pip-Boy to remind herself later.

She stood up from the uncomfortable metal chair and stretched as they heard a shout in the distance. They looked at each other and crouched down to head towards the noise. They came into a cafeteria, and could see in the distance there was a man on the balcony looking into an office window.

“Come on Nicky, you know I can’t let you out. Skinny would kill me, not to mention how that broad of his would react. You gotta tell us who sent you, and then we can discuss letting you go.” The figured leaned against the window and lit a cigarette.

Hailey pulled out Righteous Authority and took careful aim, laying prone and firing at the man just as he took the first drag of his cigarette. Her three shots hit him in the chest, and he fell to the ground, clothes smoking slightly.

Preston and Hailey rushed across the cafeteria, and up the stairs before anyone else showed up. Hailey walked across the balcony looking through the circular window and seeing the silhouette of a man in a trench coat, fedora, and the bright orange of a cherry from a cigarette.

“Hurry up and open the door, whoever you are! Skinny’s boy will be here with bells on in about five minutes once they realize muscle for brains isn’t coming back.” The voice shouted at her. The voice sounded vaguely familiar.

Hailey turned to the terminal mounted on the wall and began pounding away at the keyboard and soon the door’s hydraulics hissed and it slid open. The man stepped out of the shadows, and Hailey had to hold back a gasp, but couldn’t stop her reflex of reaching for the gun.

The “man” was a robot, a _synth._ This is what everyone was so terrified of. He glared at her with bright yellow mechanical eyes, and a grim look came across his face as his eyes flicked to Hailey’s gun.

“Relax doll, I’m Institute trash, a discarded prototype. If you can’t tell by my devilishly handsome face.” He gestured to the part of his face that was just mechanical components, the metal plating that shielded it long gone. The hand he gestured with was just a mechanical resemblance of a hand, and he seemed to be missing more metal plating from random spots along his body.

“Name’s Nick Valentine, but I suppose you already knew that. Do I know you from somewhere darling? You look familiar.” He strode towards Hailey, his eyes scanning her face.

“Glad to know the feelings mutual, but we don’t have time to discuss this right now.” Hailey turned back to Preston who seemed to be just as shocked as she was, but seemed to straighten physically and mentally when he saw that eyes were on him. He nodded his head to Hailey and Nick.

They escorted Nick through the rest of the vault. As they rounded their last flight of stairs, Nick sighed with frustration.

“Another flight of stairs? Who built this damn vault? A fitness instructor?!” He hesitated for a second before taking in a big breath and running up the last staircase.

“The exit should be right through here, it’ll be easier picking the lock when it’s on this side of the door.” He chuckled lightly and bent down to pick the lock. As he fiddled with the lock, Hailey saw some spare vault suits to her left and she grabbed one and tossed it in her bag when no one was looking.

The door flew open with a hiss, and they came face to face with a gang of five people. The man in the front had to be “Skinny” Malone, he was dressed in a tuxedo with a top hat on and the girl to his left had to be the “broad” that everyone kept mentioning.

“Ahh Nicky, why’d you have to go and escape? I shouldn’t have trusted you not to call in for help.” Skinny said, as his girl gripped the baseball bat in her hands.

“I didn’t call in for help Skinny, but I’ll take it when it comes. You should tell your girl to write home more often. That’s actually why I’m here…” The girl and Skinny exchanged looks. “I take it you lovebirds haven’t had that conversation yet? Hate to ruin it for you, but Darla lead everyone to believe that you kidnapped her. I see that’s just a big mistake now. I’ll have to relay that to her parents.”

The girl seemed to have enough of Nick talking about her and stomped her heeled foot to the ground in anger. She cried out in a high-pitched voice, “What kind of girl do you think I am? Kill him, Skinny!”

Hailey held up her arms and stepped forward. “Woah, let’s just pause for a second. Darla, right?” Darla whipped her head in Hailey’s direction her eyes narrowing. “You have parents that care about you… Why not go home to them, and no one has to get hurt here.”

Skinny touched Darla’s elbow softly, “Yeah love, the lady has a point. This doesn’t have to end in blood. It’s time for you to go.”

Darla ripped her elbow out of Skinny’s grasp. “Just like that Skinny huh? Just going to let a catch like me get away? SHUT UP!” She yelled at one of Skinny’s men as they snickered at the scene transpiring in front of them. She swung her bat from her hands and let it fall to the floor.

“Fine, Skinny, I never loved you anyways!” Darla said, with tears in her eyes as she turn and ran from the scene.

Skinny waited until she was gone, and wiped his forehead. He walked towards Hailey with his arm outstretched. “Thanks for that doll, she was a wreck, never thought I’d get rid of her.” He shook Hailey’s hand.

“You guys better get out of here before she comes back and changes her mind, but thank you again. I owe you one.” Skinny tipped his hat to Nick and watched them as they left.

“Well… I don’t know what the hell just happened, but that was one reverse damsel in distress situation. Thanks for getting me out of that tight spot.” Nick said as they jogged along. “There should be a service ladder up here that we can get out through, then we can talk.”

They climbed up and out of the sewer, and were met by the cold night air. Hailey didn’t feel like they were down there for that long, but as soon as she saw how late it was, a wave of exhaustion washed over her. Nick turned to Hailey and looked at her physically deflate.

“So, doll, what can this old hunk of junk do for you? I don’t get trapped on every job, I promise.” He winked at Hailey with a grin.

“Well, my son has been kidnapped, and my husband was murdered. I was told that you’re the only one for the job. Ellie, your secretary, pointed me to Park Street to find you.” She smiled wearily at Nick.

“Ellie… I should give her a raise. She’s a smart one for sure. There’s not a whole lot I can do for you in the streets of Boston at night, but meet me at my office tomorrow and we’ll chat.” Nick shook Preston and Hailey’s hand, the cool metal surprisingly gentle against her skin.

“Sounds like a plan, shall we head back together?” Hailey started to walk away from the men.

“That would be the smart thing to do. You’d think for a synth, I’d be coming up with the good ideas. Guess not.” Nick laughed as he caught up with Hailey and they began to make their way back to Diamond City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys, I love seeing your comments, so keep em coming. I've been in a slump lately, so I'm surprised I released a chapter this fast. I did write it in one sitting to be fair. Really excited to keep going with this. :) ThANks AgAIN tO my BEta ReADeR LoBITOglObo who critics my writing in memes.


	9. Take Good Care of my Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey and Nick track down Kellogg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in so long! Had some personal things happen in my life, but I'm back and have another chapter to post a couple days from now. Thanks for hanging in there. Thanks to my beta-reader lobitoglobo, and thanks to everyone who comments and keeps reading.
> 
> Song by Dion.

Hailey, Nick, and Preston strode into the Valentine Detective Agency and began to make themselves comfortable. Ellie ran over a hugged Nick and thanked Hailey and Preston for rescuing him from Skinny’s crew.

“Ah, Ellie, come on are you beginning to doubt me?” Nick laughed as he leaned back in the worn out wooden chair behind the desk. “Hailey, doll, go ahead and have a seat. Let’s chat about your son.”

Hailey sat down in the chair across from Nick and shook her head silently when he offered her a cigarette. She did take a mug of what tasted remotely like coffee, but looked more like tar.

“Alright, now this won’t be easy for you to talk about, but I need you to tell me everything… the devil is in the details.” Nick broke eye contact with Hailey to bend his head and light his cigarette.

“We were in a vault… a cryogenic facility. My husband, my baby, and I barely escaped the bombs. I saw the blast myself as we were being lowered down, we lost all of our friends, all our family… everything.” Hailey stared down at her hands, fiddling with the band on her left hand. “Vault-Tec lied to us and told us that they were decontamination pods…” Nick cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Hailey continued.

“Sorry, anyways, I was in my own pod, frozen separately from my husband and my baby, Shaun. I woke up after some time, and there were two figures outside of Nate and Shaun’s pod… I don’t really remember too much… they tried to grab Shaun from Nate and Nate fought them, which lead to the male shooting and killing Nate…” Hailey was fighting back tears now, and Nick pulled out a very ratty looking handkerchief, and she took it gratefully and dabbed at her eyes. She shook her head. “Sorry Nick, I didn’t expect to cry.”

“Hey doll, it’s fine. My clients usually do, but probably has something to do with my face.” He chuckled softly. “Continue when you’re ready.”

Hailey sniffled quietly, and Preston put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I promise Nick, it’s not your face… The kidnappers sounded like a man and a woman. The woman was wearing a white hazmat suit, and she’s the one who carried Shaun… the male came right up to my pod so I got a good look at him. He was bald, and had a large scar across his face.”

Ellie tapped Nick on the arm, and they exchanged a meaningful look. “It can’t be…” Nick said half to Ellie and half to himself. “You didn’t hear the name Kellogg, did you?”

Hailey thought for a moment, then shook her head “I’m sorry Nick, I don’t remember if I did or not. Everything was pretty fuzzy.”

“Ellie… pull everything we have on the Kellogg case.” Nick swiveled to watch Ellie as she rustled through the file cabinet.

“Matches the description, bald, large scar across left eye, notorious for big time mercenary work and his employer remains unknown.” Ellie set the file down in front of Nick.

“Well, I see only one possibility of who this piece of work’s employer is, and you’re not gonna like the answer sweetheart…” He paused, his yellow eyes boring into Hailey’s, and gave what looked like a grimace. “He’s most likely working for the infamous boogeyman of the Commonwealth. The Institute.”

Preston let out a harsh breath, and took his hat off and rubbed his head with his hands. Hailey continued to look down at the band on her finger.

“The Institute… but what could they possibly want a human baby for?” She let out a shaky breath, the possibility of finding Shaun fading into the distance.

Nick took a long pull off the cigarette, the cherry glowing a bright red-orange. “Well, could be a multitude of things. I mean look at their synths. The Gen 1 and Gen 2 synths basically go and wipe out entire cities, have no human emotions and are basically advanced Protectrons. The Gen 3 synths though, they’re harder to detect, they replace innocent people and pull strings from the shadows and infiltrate entire cities. They obviously have pre-war technology that is no longer available to help us.”

Hailey put her face in her hands and propped her elbows on the desk. Preston squeezed her shoulder gently, then released. “It just doesn’t make sense. They have the technology and they hoard it. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they steal people and now babies out of the Commonwealth and replace them with duplicates.” She sighed as she sat back in the chair.

“Kellogg actually rolled through here a while back… I think he had a kid with him, approximately nine or ten years old.” Nick looked a Hailey, scanning her face.

“That’s got to be Shaun… it has to be.” Hailey leaned forward and returned Nick’s stare.

“Now doll, let’s not get too excited or wound up here, that is a nine-year age difference from your Shaun the last time you’ve seen him. Kellogg lived in a house that is now abandoned in the west stands. I’m suggesting we meet in the morning at the house, say about 9:00 A.M.?”

Hailey looked at the watch on her pip-boy, it read 12:47 A.M. “Yeah Nick, that sounds good.”

Hailey rose and turned to Preston and walked towards the door. Nick and Ellie mumbled a good night as Preston and Hailey walked out.

-o0o-

Hailey and Preston awoke in the Dugout Inn the next morning. Preston was massaging his neck and legs, which were sore from sleeping at an odd angle on the couch, where Hailey had offered to sleep there the night before. Preston, however, was too much of a gentleman. They grabbed a quick breakfast from Vadim and headed over to the house that towered over the rest in the west stands. As they climbed up the stairs, Hailey could see that Nick was leaning against the side of Kellogg’s house.

“Hey doll, so we’re going to have to commit a petty crime to get this door open, because I went off to talk to the mayor about letting me have the key and he shut me down pretty quickly. It’s not unusual but, it was faster than normal. Probably just has a full plate.” Nick slid a bobby pin out of his pocket and began to pick the lock. Three bobby pins later and some choice words, they were in.

Hailey glared around the room, lips turned up in almost a snarl. “So, this is what your average piece of shit mercenary lives like. To think he could have had Shaun up here.”

“Okay sweetheart focus, you’ll get your moment if we have luck on our sides, it might just be today. Now look around for anything that might help us… there’s got to be more here…” Nick began to fiddle around with some smaller things, looking under furniture. Preston stood there confused for a moment then moved to walk up the wooden stairs.

Hailey scanned the room, and took mental notes, Gwinnett Pilsner, cigars, a couple of pinup magazines; all his creature comforts. She was drawn to the desk which had been thoroughly cleaned and remained untouched since Kellogg had been there last. As she bent to rifle through the drawers, a bright red caught her eye, and she dropped to her knees. Her gaze was met with a small red button.

“Nick, I found something, a button. I’m going to press it, I just wanted to let you know in case this blows us sky high.” She peered at him over the desk and was met with a blank stare from Nick and Preston laughing behind his head. She breathed in and exhaled slowly, reaching out to press the button.

There was the small click of the button then a wall began to slide away, Hailey turned and saw a poorly lit room with a single chair and end table. There were also several shelves with rations and ammo for a .44 caliber gun. Nick was the first one to move past Hailey into the room. Hailey couldn’t move any further, she was shocked at how psychotic this room looked. She didn’t expect Kellogg to be mentally stable, but this, this was much worse. The light cast a dim white over the room, and would flicker occasionally. Hailey collected herself and stepped into the smaller room.

“Doll, these cigars, they’re not common. San Francisco Sunlights. I wonder if we could use those to help us track this bastard down. The 0.44 caliber bullets and Gwinnett Pilsner isn’t enough on their own, but the Sunlights could definitely come to our aid.” Nick picked up the box and continued to look at the label as Hailey walked around the room, absorbing every detail.

“I wonder if Dogmeat could sniff him out with only the cigars…” Hailey mumbled to herself.

“Actually, that’s a great idea. We could go get him.” Preston chimed in, making Hailey jump.

“Well Preston, if that’s the case, we better get going back to Sanctuary, Nick we can meet you at the office tomorrow morning with Dogmeat.” Hailey turned to Nick, who nodded in agreement.

“Sounds like a plan sweetheart.” Nick winked at her.

-o0o-

Hailey took the cigar off the table and held it down for Dogmeat to carefully sniff. He sniffed it then licked Hailey’s hand softly as if he was comforting her. Dogmeat walked to the front door and woofed and pawed at the rusted door. Nick was quick to walk over to the door and whip it open. Dogmeat then took off throughout the door at a jaunt, with Hailey and Nick in tow.

Preston had split up with Hailey on the way back to Diamond City to pick up radio signal plans from Scribe Haylen and help a settlement named Oberland Station. Hailey teased him when they had split up for calling the Brotherhood a bunch of “bigoted assholes” and that he seemed friendly with Scribe Haylen despite making those remarks. Preston had blushed a deep maroon and muttered something along the lines of how important it was to make alliances with other powers in the Commonwealth and to utilize resources when they could. Hailey missed her closest friend, especially going to confront and kill the man who took her baby.

Nick was good company though, extremely intelligent and useful in a fight. He proved his worth when Dogmeat had lead them onto some train tracks and they came face to face with what resembled a grizzly bear. After they had killed it, Hailey scanned over the body carefully as Nick informed her it was a Yao Guai. The bear had small patches of rough black hair, and whatever skin wasn’t covered with that hair was pinkish, with boils in some spots.

Along the way they occasionally stopped and scanned spots that Kellogg had been through, leaving only destruction in his path. Dogmeat had to stop and sniff around these spots usually finding the scent again off a Sunlight or from bloody cloth, which started somewhere around Forest Grove Marsh.

The trio didn’t run into any other problems along the road, excluding the ghouls that crawled out from out of a bus, but they were quickly disposed of. They neared what Hailey quickly came to recognize as Fort Hagen. Nate had been to Fort Hagen before and brought Hailey into town so she could enjoy the day and still get to have lunch with him.

Dogmeat ran right up to the front entrance of the fort and pawed at the door, which had been boarded up. He whined and turned to Hailey as she knelt next to him to pat him on the head.

“Well doll, looks like this is our final stop. We should send Dogmeat back and go in ourselves.” Nick walked up next to Hailey and reached out to pet Dogmeat.

“Okay boy, I need you to head back to Sanctuary now. Can you do that?” Hailey looked at the dog, feeling insane asking a dog if he could travel half a day alone back to the settlement. Dogmeat just barked softly and licked her hand. He trotted out to the north, presumably headed back to Sanctuary Hills, where Preston would be waiting.

“If I remember correctly, there should be an entrance on the top of the building, keep an eye out for defenses. I bet Kellogg has this place dressed up to the nines.” Nick pulled out an old looking pipe pistol, and began to walk around the edge of the building.

They came across several turrets perched on scaffolding surrounded by sand bags, which they quickly disposed of. Hailey looked out over the Commonwealth surprised by how much she could see from atop of the fort. Nick held open the black door while Hailey descended into the fort. He came down quickly after her, letting the door fall with a soft thump.

“Is somebody there?” A robotic voice inquired from inside the building. Hailey turned around to stare at Nick in a panic just before a bright blue laser shot above his head.

The sound of laser rifles filled Hailey’s ears as she was trying to concentrate unloading round after round into synths that seemed to be appearing out of thin air. Nick and Hailey worked surprisingly well together and seemed to communicate nonverbally as to when they were reloading and when they needed cover. Eventually silence crept over the floor when the last synth crumpled to the ground.

Hailey picked through their belongings and the robotic skeletons, acquiring an ample supply of fusion cells. Nick and Hailey began to make their way through the fort, occasionally running into a small group of synths. Nick taught Hailey more about hacking into the computers when they powered up an old Protectron that helped them clear out the synths.

As they crossed into the lower levels of the fort, the old speaker system came to life.

“Well if it isn’t my favorite pre-war housewife, never thought you’d make it this far. I gave you 10% chance on making it to Diamond City, but here you are.” The voice crackled in and out through the speaker above their heads.

“Kellogg, you bastard! If you can hear me, you better starting praying! You’re going to fucking need it.” Hailey called out loudly. As if an otherworldly force was driving her forward, she began to take out synths left and right as Kellogg tried to talk her down and convince her to leave through the overhead speaker.

“Alright TV dinner, let’s talk. I’ll have my synths stand down. I’ll answer your questions.” Kellogg sighed over the intercom.

Hailey burst through the door with Nick in tow, into a larger room in the command center filled with desks and computers. The ceiling lights kicked on, one by one, and Kellogg strolled out from the darkness, flanked by two synths. His smug grin made Hailey want to kick his teeth in.

“So, darling, as you can see, the boy is long gone. So close mommy dearest.” Kellogg laughed as he scanned Hailey with his eyes, making her feel sick.

“Fuck you! Where is he?” Hailey spat at him, her rage boiling over. Nick recoiled next to her.

“Well if you would have been paying attention when I first said it, you might have heard it. Typical woman… he’s gone. He’s back at _home_ , the Institute.” Kellogg shook his head at her.

“You’re a liar!” Hailey rose her gun and pointed it at him. Kellogg raised his hands up in the air.

“No, I’m not shitting you, I don’t plan on leaving you alive, so you might as well know before you die. He has new parents now. Sure, he’s a little older than you expected… he doesn’t even know you exist.” His smile grew into a demented grin as he looked at her, seeing her emotions change, watching her break. “You might as well give up momma bear, you’ll never find him. Even if you did, he wouldn’t want you. Now let’s get this over with huh? I promise you won’t suffer… much.”

The next few moments seemed to pass in slow motion as Kellogg reached for his gun, but Hailey was faster, unloading 2 rounds into his head. Kellogg seemed to still be smiling as the bullets racked through him and out the back of his head, splattering blood and pieces of skull on the floor behind him. He fell backwards and as he died, so did Hailey’s hope of ever finding Shaun. Nick quickly took down the two synths with Kellogg and there was a loud rushing noise in Hailey’s ears as she dropped to her knees.

Everything she had done, seemed to be trashed now. She took too long, and her baby is gone forever. Kellogg’s words ran over and over again in her head. _He doesn’t even know you exist._  Nick knelt and put a hand on her back and offered her a very dirty handkerchief to dry her eyes as her body was racked with sobs. She couldn’t stop looking at Kellogg’s body, entranced with the blood that was beginning to pool around his body.

Nick helped her up and something silver caught her eye. In the mess that was the back of Kellogg’s head, a piece of his brain had some mechanical element attached to it. Hailey found a jar to her left on one of the desks and carefully picked up the tech and placed it in the jar. Much to Nick’s disgust, he did agree that it was an interesting find. He offered to keep it for Hailey until they figured out where to go for help next, as Kellogg, quite literally, turned out to be a dead end.

Hailey accessed Kellogg’s computer and unlocked the security door, allowing Hailey and Nick to walk straight out onto the roof from an elevator. It was dark when they emerged, and Hailey took a deep breath in and scanned her surroundings. As her eyes scanned the sky, a large ship emerged from over the hill to her right, lit up completely with spotlights that scanned the surface as the ship, which resembled a zeppelin. Vertibirds were dispatching from the ship and escorting it on its journey. A voice rang out into the cool night air.

“Citizens of the Commonwealth, do not interfere. Our intentions are peaceful, we are the Brotherhood of Steel!” The voice faded away as the ship quickly passed the fort headed towards Boston.

“Holy shit, talk about showboating, am I right Nick?” Hailey laughed, a hollow cold sound, and turned to Nick.

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing.” He muttered with a grim look on his face as he stared at the ship.

“Let’s go to Sanctuary Nick, I need some much-needed time off.” Hailey began to walk towards the scaffolding that lead them back down the side of the building.

“Right behind you sister.” Nick said softly as he followed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, finally we can get into some Brotherhood stuff. POV shift next chapter to the one and only, Danse. Keep commenting and reading, love talking to you guys.


	10. All Shook Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV shift to Danse as he recruits Hailey Miller into the Brotherhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading, as always. Excited for you to see the first peak of Danse as it opens up here. Credit to my beta reader lobitoglobo. 
> 
> Song by Elvis.

Danse’s eyes shot open as the sun was barely rising. He sighed as he looked away from the light coming in from one of the poorly boarded up windows. He pushed the nightmare he was having to the back of his mind and groaned as he sat up and became aware that he was covered in a cold sweat. He stood and walked over to the basin that was serving as a makeshift water bath and splashed some of the water onto his face and neck, trying to clean off the sweat.

He wandered back over to his bunk and pulled one of his orange uniforms and quickly put boots on. He walked into the foyer of the police station and grabbed some radstag jerky and began to make some coffee as he listened to the radio. “ _The Minutemen have actually retaken the Castle, what a feat and a big accomplishment for the vault dweller that leads them as general. Now here’s Nat King Cole’s Orange Colored Sky.”_ Danse shook his head as he sipped the lousy excuse for coffee out of the mug in front of him.

Hailey Miller had not returned to the police station, and it had been approximately three months since Danse had tried to reach out when the Prydwen arrived in the Commonwealth. She either hadn’t heard the radio beacon or chose to ignore it. It frustrated him because he could tell that she’d be a wonderful addition to the Brotherhood, and Elder Maxson was interested in recruiting her, almost to the point of venturing out of the Prydwen himself to meet with her.

Danse had been following her story for a while on the radio; she was truly helping the community around her. She had brought the Minutemen back to their former glory. Out in the field, when Danse was travelling for the Brotherhood, he often came across Minutemen settlements. He was never lucky enough to catch her, though; she was always off saving some trapped settler or wiping some of the scum off the earth. She was usually the topic for Travis from Diamond City Radio since Hailey had helped him find some confidence in himself.

She really intrigued Danse, knowing that she was searching for her son, but still had time to lend a hand to anyone in need. She could be a huge help to the Brotherhood, who were meeting resistance from the people of the Commonwealth for whatever reason. Danse took a guard shift on the wall every day to look out and hopefully see her weaving her way through the wreckage of Cambridge coming back to the police station, even if just to visit.

Garvey had been by a couple of times, but Danse could never work up the courage to ask about the general and often just eavesdropped on the colonel and Haylen’s conversations from afar, as he pretended to mess with his laser rifle.

Danse began to suit up to make his rounds before he was supposed to report into the Prydwen for his weekly meeting with Elder Maxson. He grabbed some extra ammo just in case there was some extra trouble on the way to the ship. _Never hurts to be overprepared,_ Cutler’s voice echoed through his head as he stored his supplies in his power armor.

He stomped up the stairs of the police station not caring if he woke up Rhys or Haylen on the way up, since they should already be up and preparing for whatever the day would bring. He threw the door to the roof open, just as the vertibird that would be taking him to the Prydwen arrived. He greeted the lancer as he heaved himself into the vertibird and took ahold of the minigun mounted on deck as he hit the roof of the cabin to signal he was ready to go.

The vertibird lifted off the ground and left Danse’s stomach behind. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to the feeling of taking off. He did love seeing the land stretch out beneath him and the roar of the air as it whipped through the cabin. He successfully gunned down some raiders that were gathering by a large building, but saw nothing out of the ordinary on the rest of the flight.

They docked at the Prydwen with a shutter, and the air fell silent as the vertibird shut off. There was always a slight breeze on the deck of the Prydwen, and it was especially cold today and hurt his face as he made his way across the deck, nodding at the guard as he proceeded into the interior of the ship. He made his way over to where the young Elder was standing.

The man turned as he heard Danse make his way in and settle behind him. Danse saluted the Elder and greeted him as normal.

“So, I’m sure you’ve heard, the Castle has been retaken by the General and her militia. I watched the whole thing from up here, through the scope of my rifle. She really is something else, put down a mirelurk queen as if she’s been doing it since she walked out of the womb.” Elder Maxson laughed warily, recounting what he had seen.

“That is quite impressive sir, I’ve been trying to reach out to her and recruit her myself, but have not been successful in my attempts.” Danse replied to the Elder stiffly.

“Paladin, I must have her in my forces. Not only does she have the beginnings of a great soldier, she’s also a huge asset due to her relationship to the Minutemen. I believe it’s of utmost importance to befriend her and form an alliance.” Danse nodded in agreement. “The Institute is proving more and more difficult to track and uncover information about. Our top scribes are puzzled by the energy readings. They’re inconsistent and random in nature. I didn’t expect to stay in the Commonwealth for so long and Proctor Teagan is already warning me almost daily about food resources. We need to partner with the Commonwealth and offer them something in exchange. I want to make myself very clear when I say this Danse, if you cannot contact her within the next week, I will reach out myself to meet with her.” The Elder gave Danse a very serious look, making his point clear.

“Crystal, sir. I will speak with Garvey if I happen to see him. I’ll keep in close contact with you as well over the HAM radio. I agree that we need to branch out into the Commonwealth more, these people know that we are here for the Institute, and they know more than we could ever know because they’ve lived it.” Danse looked down at Elder Maxson and the Elder nodded at him.

“I have a list of locations I want you to scout out, and the last one on the list I want saved for you and the General. I believe it’ll be a great chance to show her who we really are, and what we’re after. I’m trusting you with my mission, because frankly you’re my right-hand man. Now I have a meeting with Proctor Teagan in about ten minutes, but if you’re still in the area later tonight, stop by my quarters for a drink. It’s been too long old friend.” Maxson waved his hand dismissing Danse.

Danse proceeded to the lower deck to visit the research lab and check on their progress. After talking with Scribe Neriah for an extended amount of time, Danse walked down to the mess hall to grab an actual hot meal from the cook. Iguana soup was the lunch option for today, and it tasted amazing. Danse ate quickly and just as he was getting up, a small squire ran up to him.

“Paladin… P-Proctor Quinlan has Scribe Haylen on the r-radio for you from the police station, he said it’s urgent sir!” The scribe squeaked, huffing and puffing out of breath from having sprinted to him to deliver the message. He said a quick thank you to the scribe and threw away his garbage before setting off at a brisk pace to the proctor’s office. Danse grabbed the faded orange radio on Quinlan’s desk. “Danse here.”

“ _Sir, I wanted to inform you that Hailey Miller just came into the police station looking for you. She’s still here.”_ Haylen’s voice came through the old radio.

“Okay Haylen, thank you, keep her there. I’m leaving right now.” Danse switched off the radio and turned to Proctor Quinlan. “Can you send a squire to Elder Maxson at once, letting him know the General is at the police station? Also let the Elder know that I will most likely be back tonight with the General.” Quinlan nodded silently and watched Danse leave his office in a rush.

Danse hopped onto the first vertibird on deck, and was at the police station in record time. He clambered out of the vertibird, feet hitting the roof of the police station loudly. He nearly ran downstairs hoping that Miller was still there.

His sight was greeted by a tall, slender woman in a royal blue colonial duster and tricorn hat talking to Scribe Haylen using her hands wildly, telling the scribe an animated story. The woman slowly turned and faced Danse as he hit the bottom floor, and he was surprised to see her smile at him widely with white, straight teeth.

“Paladin Danse, I’m reporting for duty. If you’ll still have me of course.” She winked at him. Danse felt his face getting red and quickly gathered himself mentally despite the anxious feeling in his stomach.

“Miller, I’m surprised to see you showed up, about three months late.” Her smile faded slightly hearing the disapproval in his voice. She huffed slightly, and Danse noticed the combat armor she wore underneath the duster with a large white star on the chest piece.

“Well I had a lot of other business to take care of, but now that the Minutemen will be stable with Garvey in charge, I’m able to take a little time and focus on some other commitments I should have made a long time ago.” She gestured to the police station around them.

“Well, I’m going to take you on a field trip if you’re serious. Since the Prydwen is here, it means you’ll get to meet the Elder in person. He’s the leader of this chapter of the Brotherhood. We’ll leave immediately, follow me.” Danse turned and heard her quietly padding along behind him up to the roof where the vertibird pilot was leaned against it smoking a cigarette. “Is that really an appropriate way to treat that piece of technology, Lancer Zane? Leaning against it, really?” Danse scolded the pilot.

“Well she’s my baby Paladin, if I damage it, I fix it. So yeah, it is a glorified leaning post.” The lancer shrugged and turned, as Danse could feel his fuse burning shorter with the attitude of the smart-ass pilot.

“Okay Miller, get in first, I’ll help you up if you need it.” Danse let her step in front of him.

“I know you’re just trying to cop a feel Paladin, I assure you though I got it.” She replied smugly grabbing onto the bar to the side of the door, hoisting herself up with ease. Danse could feel his ears growing red.

“Inappropriate Miller, now grab the minigun and shoot anything that isn’t a civilian.” Danse replied hitting the roof of the vertibird, and closely watching Miller to make sure she wasn’t startled by the vertibird taking off. He watched her face as they rose in the air, and her eyes lit up with wonder as she scanned the Commonwealth. She reminded him of Cutler the first time they had rode in a vertibird together back in the Capital Wasteland. She smiled that dazzling white smile as she opened fire on a group of super mutants on a bridge below. Her light brown hair blowing furiously in the wind as she whooped, successfully taking down the whole group of mutants.

“Nice job Miller!” Danse yelled at her over the roar of the wind. She turned slightly and smiled at him before directing her attention back to the ground. Danse couldn’t get over how different she looked from when she had first helped him in Cambridge. She had a fresh pink scar through her left eyebrow, and had clearly gained muscle and skill that only experience in the Commonwealth would grant. She just looked to pure and fresh to be out in the wasteland, but he could tell that’s where she was used to spending her time now. She finally stepped away from the gun and hopped off the vertibird as soon as they docked.

Danse noticed that she swayed slightly as she realized how high the Prydwen rested in the air, but she would grow used to it. It had taken some time for Danse as well. She stepped back so he could lead the way. He was surprised to see that Captain Kells had come out to the deck to meet her. He greeted the man with a salute and saw out of the corner of his eye that Miller had copied his motion to salute.

“You’re not what I was expecting, General.” Kells said curtly. Miller narrowed her eyes and Danse’s stomach lurched from fear of what she might say.

“Well, lucky for you, looks can be deceiving.” She replied calmly even throwing in a soft smile at the end to sweeten the underlying insult.

Kells shook her hand and proceeded inside to the upper deck where Elder Maxson had gathered a small group of upper officers of the Brotherhood. Maxson made his speech, and Danse thought about how lucky he was to get Miller recruited today, after him and the Elder were just talking about it. Danse’s chest also swelled with pride as he noticed that Miller was completely intrigued by what Maxson was saying. After the speech, Maxson dismissed everyone but Danse and Miller.

“I care about them you know… the people of the Commonwealth.” Maxson remarked to Miller. Miller laughed softly.

“You’re telling me that Elder, but your troops on the ground threaten my settlers to get food from them.” Miller held her gaze with the Elder. Danse’s breath was gone from the tension that had been created in the room.

“Excuse me General? That is not possible. I have given no such order. I have actually been wanting to meet with you for some time to talk about a possible trade proposal between the settlements and my soldiers.” Maxson looked at Miller with shock plain across his face at her accusations.

“You might want to check with your ground patrols. They’ve been so bold to even threaten me, while I’m working at the settlement. I thought joining up with you might help change the troops attitudes towards my people.” She held her head high, and stood tall with confidence as she addressed Maxson.

“We can meet later in my quarters to discuss trade options, but for now… I’ve decided to immediately promote you to the rank of knight, due to the report that Paladin Danse had wrote after your help with acquiring the transmitter that lead to our arrival here in the Commonwealth.” Maxson relaxed his face slightly, and Danse could have sworn that he saw the ghost of a smile appear for a second. “You’ll be directly under Danse’s command and watch. Your first mission debriefing will be in the morning at 0800 hours. I will meet with you tonight at 2000 hours to discuss trade options. You are dismissed for now, while I meet with the Paladin. Take this time to wander the Prydwen and get to know some of the crew, the Paladin will join you shortly.” Miller saluted the Elder and left promptly.

Danse watched her leave, and turned back to Maxson who was beginning to pour two whiskeys. Danse accepted one, and tapped his glass against the Elder’s for a small toast.

“Well done Danse. She’s everything I thought her to be, and more. She’s got a kick to her that one, watch out for that.” Maxson laughed as he hit Danse in the arm playfully. Danse was happy to see Maxson like this, relaxed and almost his age, the war commander personality fading away and the lively man Arthur appearing.

“You better watch out, she’s coming to your quarters later to negotiate. I don’t know how you plan on even reasoning with her. I’ve seen her when she’s insulted, and trust me sir, you don’t want that happening.” Danse chuckled lightly, accepting another whiskey from Maxson.

“Well hopefully it will be the start of a wonderful partnership. I’m sending you both to Fort Strong Armory tomorrow. Be back here at 0800 with Knight Miller in tow, don’t celebrate too hard tonight.” Maxson laughed yet again, as Danse turned red.

He set the whiskey glass down and saluted the Elder once more, turning to go down to the lower deck to track down Miller. He found her chatting with the smart-ass lancer from earlier.

“Hate to break this up Knight, but I need to show you where your bunk is. Follow me.” He quipped and lead her to the small bed and footlocker that belonged to her. “There’s a Brotherhood uniform in the footlocker for you to wear. I suggest you start wearing it tomorrow.” She nodded silently and proceeded to set her tricorn hat in the foot locker, running a hand through her hair and ruffling it.

Danse noticed several soldiers stopping to gawk at her as her gave her the rest of the tour. Danse’s mind was filled with the thought of tomorrow’s mission as he dismissed her to go meet with the Elder for their negotiations. He retired to his room adjacent to the Elders and threw himself down on the bed, not even bothering to remove his uniform, and grabbing a book he was working on reading about weapon maintenance.

He would get absorbed into the book then a light chuckle would make its way through the wall from Maxson’s room. He tried to steer his thoughts back to his book but eventually kept getting distracted by the sound of Knight Miller giggling followed by Maxson’s booming laugh. Danse felt a weird twinge in his chest… jealousy? He quickly pushed the feeling away. Why would he be feeling that? He wasn’t interested in Knight Miller, it would be a protocol violation despite the way he felt today when he saw her again for the first time in three months since Arc-Jet. He laid back down on the bed after removing his uniform and pulling on sweat pants. He turned out the light and could still hear the sounds of talking coming from Maxson’s room. The small twinge in his chest made itself known again. He shook his head and closed his eyes. He didn’t have feelings for Knight Miller.

Did he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter, next chapter will look like Hailey's perspective of her "meeting" with Maxson. Leave comments as always!


	11. Feeling Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey's POV of meeting the Brotherhood members, and meeting with Maxson. 
> 
> Chapter title comes from Michael Buble.

“Take this time to wander the Prydwen and meet some of the crew. The Paladin will meet you shortly.” Hailey saluted Maxson like she had seen Danse do many times before, and turned to leave. She felt Danse shift awkwardly next to her, like he wanted to follow her. Hailey strode out of the windowed room they were in and began to quietly walk down the steps. She could hear the small unmistakable clink of a decanter being opened and liquid being poured into a glass.

As she climbed down the ladder, she could hear the muffled voices of Danse and Maxson talking. Distracted by the chatter, she turned around and started to walk, but ran straight into someone.

“Hey, watch your shit stompers.” The tall lancer that had transported Danse and Hailey to the Prydwen was looking down at her with amusement on his face.

“Sorry, won’t happen again. Mind showing me around? You don’t look like you’re doing anything important.” Hailey retorted at the lancer.

“Lancer Zane at your service.” He laughed and did a fake curtsy with a lopsided grin showing through the neatly groomed beard on his face.

“So, this here is the Prydwen, it flies in the air and carries some of the deadliest military assassins on God’s green Earth. Like Robinson over there.” He gestured to a man sitting at a table sloppily slurping down soup. “He’s really dangerous, can’t you tell?”

“It looks like the only thing he’s dangerous to is the mess hall’s supply…” Hailey said shaking her head, mildly surprised at the table etiquette of the knight. Hailey had gotten used to people being slobs in this new world, but every now and then it caught her off guard. The duo wandered into an open area of the deck, which Zane quickly explained that it was the Prydwen’s glorified mechanic bay.

A woman in a power armor frame lumbered over to Hailey and Zane, and Hailey quickly noticed the woman had no legs what so ever and the power armor seemed to be her only method of walking.

“I’m Proctor Ingram; you must be Danse’s newest find. Miller, right?” Hailey nodded her head silently. “If you ever need anything fixed, or need to report one of this giant rust bucket’s mechanical issues, you come to me. This bay is operational 24/7, so feel free to work on anything at any hour your heart desires.”

“I usually come down here and catch the latest gossip with her while it’s 3 A.M. over a nice cup of steaming mud from the night cook at the mess hall.” Zane laughed, a piece of his slicked back auburn hair dropping into his face.

“Can it Zane, that’s a trade secret and you know it.” Ingram clipped at him.

“Well I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to chat, I never sleep that well anymore.” Hailey stared up at the woman who looked at her with something that almost resembled sympathy.

“I’ll catch you then, see you around Miller.” Ingram strode off to look over someone’s shoulder and began to point out better ways for them to repair their armor.

“Next stop, is the one-stop shop ran by Proctor Teagan. Yeah, you have to buy your own supplies, it’s a load of shit. Whole bunch of cheap asses run this place, I swear to God.” Zane threw his hands up in mock frustration and lead Hailey into a new area of the deck where a disgruntled looking man sat behind a cage. Zane and Hailey walked up to the small window, and Zane leaned against the counter and lit up a cigarette.

“Haven’t seen your face looking through this window before… You must be the prodigy recruit that Danse bragged about. Name’s Teagan, Proctor Teagan to you.” Hailey turned red as Teagan brought up Danse’s report. “I stay in this cage because I’m not sure I wouldn’t choke out the next person who tried to haggle prices with me. That one to your left constantly tries, then bitches about how he has to buy his own supplies. The Brotherhood wouldn’t want to pay for his Saturday night supplies for more than two weeks; we’d go bankrupt.” Hailey turned and looked at Zane, who shrugged and took a long pull off his cigarette and blew the smoke in the cage at Teagan.

“Whatever Proctor, you know you love me… or just the caps I spend on cigarettes, booze and snacks.” Zane laughed at his own joke as Hailey turned back towards Teagan.

“Anyways, before this idiot started talking, I was going to tell you, if you’re looking for extra work, I got a couple of jobs on the down low. We’re obviously an army, and we need food. Don’t get me wrong, a lot passes through me, but almost everything that comes out of the mess hall is either hunted, traded or acquired through local farms. I would need you to convince local farmers to hand over crops peacefully, before something worse happens to them.”

Hailey started to frown but caught herself as anger bubbled within. She had almost all of the farms under her control in the Commonwealth and Brotherhood soldiers had stopped by before. Luckily, her people have enough food to share after she put in back breaking work into each farm for about three months after she had killed Kellogg. It still bugged her, but she could always bring it to the table when she chatted with Maxson later.

“I’ll get back to you on that Proctor, it was nice to meet you. I’ll probably be visiting here pretty soon.” Hailey wrapped up the conversation before she let her anger boil over. She noticed her tone was colder, but Teagan didn’t seem to pick up on it.

Zane and Hailey walked back through the main deck of the Prydwen until they had almost reached the ladder. She could almost hear the low chatter of the men upstairs. Zane nodded to a door on their right then quietly told her that he’d wait out here. Hailey strode into what she quickly came to recognize as a medical bay and cleared her throat to attract the attention of the middle-aged man furiously typing on his terminal. The man turned around and a smile appeared on his face.

“Miller, Hailey? I was just looking over your file. Paladin Danse’s newest recruit, right?” The man said warmly. Hailey nodded with a soft smile. “My name is Knight-Captain Cade, you can just call me Cade when it’s you and me. I prefer a less formal approach than my colleagues, it keeps the mood light. I’m the Prydwen’s main medical professional, doctor and surgeon all in one.”

“Nice to meet you Cade, you can just call me Hailey if you prefer to keep it on the less formal side.” Hailey walked closer to Cade as he turned to pick up her medical file.

“I just have to walk through a basic medical examination, so please be patient with me. It’s routine for all new recruits.” Cade ruffled the papers in her file, and peered over the top to look at Hailey. “Have you ever been exposed to a large amount of radiation in your childhood?”

Hailey laughed softly. “You might need reading glasses Cade, I’m from a vault. I lived before the war, the vault froze us like popsicles. I just woke up about 4 months ago.”

Cade grabbed some very old, dirty reading glasses off the table and turned back to Hailey’s file. His eyes scanned the file and then his eyebrows shot up. “I apologize Hailey, I overlooked that fact. Well really the only other question, and it’s pretty intrusive but important that you answer honestly; have you ever had sexual relations with a species that is not human, such as ghoul, super mutant or synths?” He avoided eye contact and waited for Hailey to answer the question. When she began to laugh, he cast her a questioning look.

“Oh… my… god… That’s a real question?” Hailey said through her laughs and Cade nodded. “Holy shit no, Cade. I know you just met me, but I’m not that type of girl.” Hailey winked at him and continued laughing as Cade turned scarlet.

“That will be all Knight, dismissed.” Cade said quietly, and Hailey walked over to him and slugged his arm playfully.

“I’m just kidding Cade, don’t be embarrassed. My answer is still no to the question though. I’ll make sure to never end up in here, but I’ll come by to say hello.” Hailey smiled warmly as he looked at her and she strode out of the med bay. Zane was outside with a laser pointer, pointed at a large stack of comics in the next office, watching a cat tear it to shreds.

“GOD DAMN IT LANCER ZANE! That’s two weeks of bathroom duty for you! I will be bringing this up to Elder Maxson at our next meeting!” A tall, thin man wearing glasses came running at the cat pushing it off the comics and placing the ruined comics in the desk behind him.

“I’ll meet you in the mess hall, I got him all warmed up for you!” Zane winked then trotted away laughing.

“Fuck you Zane.” Hailey said under her breath as she crept into the man’s office. He was hunched over a stack of papers trying to reorganize them from when he leapt up to stop Zane from messing up his comics.

“Ahh... yes you can set your patrol research over on the desk I’ll get to it later.” The man clipped at Hailey.

“Uhh… what? I think you have me mistaken with someone else…” Hailey said back to him. The man turned around and sneered at Hailey.

“You are correct Knight… Miller. Paladin Danse’s new recruit. Certainly not what I was expecting. My name is Proctor Quinlan. I run the research and development of new technology as well as acquiring old technology and blueprints from before the war. If you ever come across any, I am authorized to pay you. Now… I need to get back to this. Dismissed.” He promptly turned and resumed shuffling the papers in front of him.

Hailey glared at Quinlan’s hunched back and strode out of the office, heading towards the mess hall to meet back up with Zane. She saw him sitting alone at a table drinking a cup of coffee and subtly checking out a female knight at the mess bar.

Hailey whistled to get his attention as she sat down next to him. “Hey Zane, I can see why you screwed with Quinlan. He’s kind of a dick.” Hailey looked at Zane as he turned to make eye contact with her.

“Oh, just kind of? I could have lit the comics on fire instead. Two weeks bathroom duty is nothing to screw with Quinlan.” Zane laughed and then continued to look at the knight who had now sat down at a table with several other people.

“Yeah thanks for that, really helped with his wonderful attitude. Dick.” Hailey laughed and heard the clunk of power armor behind her.

“Hate to break this up Knight, but I need to show you where your bunk is. Follow me.” Danse announced himself stiffly from behind Hailey’s left shoulder. Zane cast Hailey an impressed look then disappeared into the rush of people coming back from patrol, Hailey could see his auburn hair making a bee line towards the female knight’s table.

Danse led Hailey to the deck above the mess room, and pointed to a small bed and green metal footlocker. “This is yours Miller. There’s a Brotherhood uniform in the footlocker for you to wear. I suggest you start wearing it tomorrow.” Danse looked at her, waiting for a response.

Hailey just nodded her head silently, scanning Danse’s face but breaking eye contact to take off her tricorn hat to place it in the footlocker at the end of her bed. She also set her bag down by the edge of the bed, then roughed up her hair with her hands.

Danse escorted her to the door of Maxson’s quarters where the Elder was waiting for her. Hailey knocked at the door and a quiet grunt signaled her to come in. As she walked through the door, she looked at Danse and found that he was already staring at her, halfway into his room. His face turned red and he promptly stepped inside the room and shut the door.

Hailey turned back to Maxson’s quarters and ran her eyes over every detail in the room. To her left there was a wall lined with bookshelves full of books, trinkets and rounds of ammo. In front of the bookshelves was a casual seating area with two red overstuffed couches complete with matching end tables and a coffee table. To her right there was a conference table that had blue prints and files spread everywhere and one of the eight chairs was occupied by the young Elder himself. Maxson looked quite amused by the look on Hailey’s face as she continued to absorb how well furnished and how clean the furniture actually was. Against the far wall there was a desk and two filing cabinets followed by a small table that had two crystal glasses and an assortment of dark and light bottles filled with the wasteland’s sorry excuse of alcohol. To the left of the desk there was a small flight of stairs leading up to a platform with a bed and another door that Hailey assumed to be a private bathroom. Hailey went to open her mouth but a chuckle cut her off.

“Being Elder has its perks. Not perks I necessarily need but still impressive nonetheless. Please…” Maxson gestured to a chair at the table across from his. “Have a seat. Let’s talk business, shall we?”

“What, you aren’t even going to offer me a drink or anything first? I’ll take some of that whiskey you have over there. Seems like you‘ve already poured yourself a glass.” Hailey said, pointing to the nearly empty glass at Maxson’s right.

“Fair enough Miller. Now, straight to it. I assume you know why I’ve wanted to recruit you into the Brotherhood of Steel…” Maxson paused pouring whiskey into a glass and topping off his own, back to Hailey.

“Yes, I figured because of my relationship to the Minutemen. Which I know not everyone on this ship has made that connection. With as much as Travis on Diamond City Radio talks about it you’d figure that everyone would know, and that they wouldn’t make insensitive comments.” Hailey swirled the glass in her hand, focused on how the whiskey clung to it.

“Insensitive comments? What are you talking about?” Maxson’s voice was low and he leaned forward, waiting for a response.

“Well, Proctor Teagan? Yeah, he’s been sending your troops to threaten my settlers out of their crops to feed the never-ending pit that is this ship.” Maxson set his glass hard down on the table, and Hailey jumped and stopped talking.

“I’m… not mad at you. I’m sorry, I am shocked that he is encouraging that… no wonder matters are so bad with the Commonwealth. I’m so embarrassed, truly, I am sorry.” Maxson’s ears were bright red and his face was stone.

“Well, he’s just lucky I didn’t say anything. I was really close to it, but I’m trying to practice self-control.” Hailey laughed, then finished off her glass of whiskey and gestured to the empty glass. “As you can clearly see. I worked hard on my farms, Elder. I wouldn’t be opposed to working out a deal though.”

Maxson got up and grabbed Hailey’s glass and when he spoke, she could hear the curiosity clear in his voice. “Oh yeah? What do you want in return for crops?”

Hailey cleared her throat and took a swig of whiskey as Maxson sat down in the chair next to her. “Well, I don’t think it’s out of the question for Brotherhood patrols to run past the settlements. I think that’s more than fair, correct me if I’m wrong, the routes of the patrols are close by and without those crops, you wouldn’t be in good shape, caps wise and hunger wise.”

“Hmm… you drive a hard bargain Miller. I can’t see why not though, you bring up valid points.” Maxson looked at Hailey and then shook his head and laughed quietly. “You’d think being the experienced military commander I am, that I’d negotiate more. Must be getting soft.”

Hailey giggled, “Could it just be that I’m a woman, and I’m just naturally convincing?”

“Yeah… something like that I’m sure.” Maxson said, turning red in the face.

“So, what’s a man like you doing in a wasteland like this? I’ve only heard the rumors.” Hailey laughed, feeling braver with every drink she took.

“Well, my ancestor actually formed the Brotherhood. Roger Maxson from Mariposa base in California… I was born in that area and then sent to the Citadel in the capital for training. I trained under some of the best soldiers the Brotherhood had ever seen, Elder Lyons and his daughter Sara Lyons. They raised me to be who I am today… I owe them everything.” Maxson drank the remaining whiskey in his glass, then stood to walk over to the desk where the whiskey bottle was. Maxson grabbed the bottle and brought it over to the table, topping off Hailey’s glass and filling his own.

“Wow… you were prepped to lead since birth? That’s amazing!” Hailey took a sip of the whiskey then looked at the clock on her Pip-Boy. “Whew, Elder, it’s almost 11:00 P.M… Do you always drink with the new recruits this late at night before their first mission?”

“Well to be fair, you aren’t the normal recruit…” Maxson sighed. “I watched you take back the Castle, it was quite… extraordinary. After I saw that, I made it Paladin Danse’s personal mission to recruit you into our ranks. You’re a talented, strong woman.” Maxson turned red at the last words, as if he wasn’t used to complementing his fellow soldiers.

Hailey laughed and blushed, as Maxson’s eyes met hers, the chilling blue scanning her face. “Well, I should probably get going, I need my beauty sleep. This has been fun though, you should drink with your special recruits more often.” Hailey winked at Maxson, and he laughed. His laugh was loud and booming coming from deep within him. A genuine laugh. She smiled at him and then turned to leave the room, almost expecting to hear Maxson protest, but he stayed silent.

Hailey opened the door to the deck and shut it quietly and leaned against it for a second. Her mind was spinning, whether it was from the whiskey or the “meeting” she just had with Maxson she wasn’t sure. She looked to her left at the lone door that stood in between her and the Paladin. She had so many questions for him and so many things to tell him, but they’d have to wait until morning. She heard the light clinking of glasses and papers being rustled in the room behind her. She blushed again at the thought of the Elder. She felt a familiar rushing feeling in her stomach followed by guilt. She didn’t have feelings for the young Elder.

Did she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been taking me so long to release stuff. I'm trying to be more consistent with it, and it's definitely a struggle. I love hearing your feedback though! Chapter 1 was originally unedited, and is currently being edited by my beta reader, lobitoglobo. As soon as it's done, I will be uploading it and it will be different, so I'd maybe go back and read it again. Mainly the objective is to get it to flow better, and hopefully it will by the time we're done hacking away at it. Anyways! Next chapter is another from Danse's perspective. Keep the comments coming, it makes my day!


	12. Dream Lover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danse and Hailey fight their way through Fort Strong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by Dion.

Danse’s eyes shot open as his alarm went off. He bumped around haphazardly on his night stand until hitting the alarm clock, silencing it. He laid back down in bed and pressed his fingers lightly into his eyes, groaning at the feeling of exhaustion. Usually he woke up feeling well rested, despite whatever was on his mind, but he tossed and turned all night. His mind flashed to the light noise of female laughter that haunted him last night. Miller… Hailey. He couldn’t get the images out of his head of her with Maxson, doing whatever they were laughing about.

  
Danse stretched out, groaning loudly and pulled himself out of bed. He stepped into the white light of his private bathroom. Being a high-ranking officer had its perks; the private bathroom and shower were a large part of those. He went through his morning routine and slowly put on his orange uniform and flight hood over his still damp hair. He walked back out into the bedroom/makeshift office he’d grown to love and grabbed his boots that he had kicked to the side last night in frustration.

  
After tightly lacing on the black boots, Danse strode out of his quarters and headed to the mess hall. He passed bleary eyed knights and scribes alike. He gave them a curt nod if they made eye contact but didn’t engage in any conversation until he had some of the coffee in the mess. He poured the blackish-brown tar into a barely clean ceramic mug and grabbed some of the scrambled mirelurk eggs and fried Cram that the cook had scrapped together that morning.

  
Danse turned from the line with his plate and scanned the room, landing on the back of Hailey’s head. She was sitting across from Lancer Zane and her dark blonde hair looked frazzled. He hesitated for just a moment, then strode over to their table and tossed himself down next to Hailey.

  
“Hey Paladin, you’re looking rather tired this morning…” Hailey said, casting him a wary look.

  
“Yeah, I didn’t sleep very well last night.” Danse snipped at her before he could bite his tongue. He looked over at her, and she dropped her gaze and her cheeks turned slightly red. Danse tried to think of something to say, like an apology for being so rude, but his mouth wasn’t forming the words.

  
“Geez, Paladin you might want to grab another cup of that coffee before our briefing with the Elder.” Lancer Zane piped up from across the table, his jade green eyes scanning Danse’s face then darting to Hailey and back to Danse.

  
“Our briefing? I wasn’t aware that you’d be our pilot for this mission.” Danse continued to stare down Zane, but the lancer wouldn’t flinch.

  
“I was requested by name, by yours truly.” He nodded in Hailey’s direction. Hailey looked up at Danse, with a spark of life in her eyes, almost daring him to challenge her. Instead he just nodded silently and sipped his coffee, deciding it was better not to say anything at all. All they needed was more tension in between them while they were supposed to be focused on the mission at hand.

  
Hailey clapped her hands down on the table, startling Danse. He jolted at her side, and heard a quiet laugh from under her breath slip out. He glared down at her for a second before his lips started to twitch, threatening to smile at her. He looked away before she could notice the small turn of his lips, if she ever even looked at his lips. His thoughts wandered while his body went on autopilot.

  
He pulled himself away from his mind as the trio climbed up the ladder to the command deck and saluted Maxson. The young Elder began to brief them on Fort Strong and how they would be acquiring a large supply of fat man shells that were currently occupied by super mutant forces. Danse over the years had learned how to listen to briefings but to also pay attention to the energy in the room. He couldn’t help but notice the attention that Maxson was giving Hailey and that she was returning it. His mind flashed back to last night, hearing the two laughing through the walls again and again in his head. He could feel the heat in his face as well as the jealousy in his chest.

  
Danse had to push these feelings aside, talk himself out of it. It’d been a while since he had these feelings for anyone, and his first time in the Brotherhood having feelings for someone. Brotherhood relationships weren’t frowned upon, but Danse was her superior and her mentor. It was inappropriate to say the least. He had to be focused on today’s mission one hundred percent, absolutely no distractions.

  
He pulled himself back into the conversation trying to ignore the looks that the pair were giving each other and ended up making eye contact with Zane, who arched an auburn red brow high and shrugged his shoulders, letting Danse know that he was just as confused as Danse was. The briefing thankfully came to an end short after that and the trio went their separate ways to collect their gear. Hailey met up with Danse in the power armor bay, doubling checking the armor’s calibration and confirming the adjustments with Proctor Ingram. Hailey stepped up into her power armor with ease and it made Danse’s chest swell with pride. She looked amazing, even as her helmet obscured her face. She strode past Danse, casting a look over her shoulder as he snapped his helmet into place.

  
Danse and Hailey met Zane out on the flight deck and they all clambered into Zane’s vertibird. Danse hit the roof of the vertibird, as he always did to signal they were ready to go. To his surprise, Hailey and Zane copied him and the vertibird lurched suddenly as they separated from the Prydwen. Danse looked out over the water, the gentle blue-green reflecting the early morning sunshine off the caps of the soft waves. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, preparing his mind for battle.

  
It was always difficult going into a firefight, especially so outnumbered. Danse knew that Maxson was a brilliant commander but he also knew that the Brotherhood was running low on fresh recruits and active field soldiers to send an adequate amount of people. The Elder believed in the unlikely trio, and Danse was determined to prove the Elder right. As they neared the fort, Danse could begin to make out the large building through the sea fog, as well as several destroyed brick buildings from before the war. Danse did a double take when scanning the ruins; one of the house seemed to be moving. Just as he was about to call it over the comms, a large boulder flew at them and Zane quickly moved the vertibird to the right.

  
“BEHEMOTH, STRAIGHT AHEAD! HAILEY, OPEN FIRE, I’LL BRING US AROUND FOR A BETTER SHOT!” Zane cried out over the radio, as Hailey sprang into action.

  
Danse could hear the minigun sinking bullet after bullet into the behemoth, and he pulled out his laser rifle and began to take down the larger mutants from the air. As he pulled out another fusion cell, Zane’s voice crackled through the radio again.

  
“AS SOON AS HE’S GONE, I’M TAKING YOU GUYS TO THE GROUND AND LEAVING. WE NEED REPAIRS AND WE NEEDED THEM ABOUT THREE MINUTES AGO!” Zane gave the thumbs up as the behemoth roared and fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

  
“All right Miller! Good job, now let’s go! Follow me!” Danse called out as his power armor boots hit the ground with a loud boom. He ran forward, taking cover behind a broken wall and Hailey slid up behind him, pulling out Righteous Authority and jamming another fusion cell into the rifle. Danse began shooting down the super mutants one by one. When he paused to reload, Hailey took over flawlessly with control and pinned the super mutants down while she waited for the opportune moment to fire at them. She had improved so much since they had last fought together at ArcJet. Danse could see that she was accustomed to the wasteland now and had trained hard to get the progress she was showing.

  
He shook his head slightly, grabbing his rifle as she strode through the ruins picking ammo, stimpacks and whatever else she could find off the super mutants they had killed. She slung a decent looking .50 caliber sniper rifle over her shoulder and turned around to look at Danse. He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear the smile in her voice.  
“Come on slow-poke, it’s all clear. I got them all while you were taking forever to reload.” She laughed and turned away from him, walking up to the fort. He could hear her breathing softly into the radio, not with exhaustion, but with pure energy as if she was really enjoying herself. She waited for him up at the door and nodded silently as he pushed it open.

  
The smell of rotting meat came through Danse’s helmet and he had to fight the urge to gag. Hailey coughed softly through the radio as they neared the dripping bags of meat chained to the ceiling. They froze as they heard a rough voice cut through the silence.

  
“I wish a buckethead would show up right now... I’d rip his legs clean off.” One mutant grumbled.

  
“Wait! A noise?” Another inquired.

  
Danse looked at Hailey thankful that his helmet was covering the expression on his face as the mutants grew near. Danse could hear the soft click of Hailey’s 10mm safety clicking off. The mutants had barely rounded the corner and she fired off four shots, two in each of their heads. The bodies fell to the ground with loud thumps, and it fell silent once again.

  
“Nice suppressor, Miller.” Danse praised through the radio. Hailey pulled off her helmet and tossed her hair out of her face. She smiled at him with her perfectly straight, white teeth.

  
“Thanks sir, I installed it myself.” She said, scanning the front of his helmet, which he then popped off, and gave her a small smile.

  
“That’s impressive Knight. I see that Righteous Authority is still in good condition, looks like you’ve added improvements as well.” He internally cringed at how plainly his pride was coming through in his voice.

  
“Yeah but you know, it can’t all be about the Brotherhood.” She winked and tapped the side of Righteous Authority where a small Minutemen sign had been painted. He laughed and jammed back on his helmet as she did the same.

  
Hailey lead the search throughout the offices using a local map on her Pip-Boy to locate the underground storage for the shells. They walked into another open room that lead down into the storage area and were once again greeted by the sickening smell of rotting meat. Hailey coughed harder this time, and after she gained her control again, Danse heard a loud and low howling sound.

  
“Mutant hounds! Take them out first!” He cried as the large hound slammed into the wall while speeding around the corner. To his left, Hailey was unloading shot after shot into the hound until it eventually dropped. Danse peered over the railing of the platform that they were standing on into the room below.

  
A mutant bellowed out commands in the next room as they came running out into the open space. One mutant with a board came charging towards Hailey as she was reloading and Danse quickly shot him in the head. Time seemed to slow as his gaze turned back to the largest mutant of the three, who was hoisting a missile launcher onto his massive green shoulder. The mutant narrowed his beady eyes, looking through the sights straight at Hailey who was trying to take down the other mutant.

  
“HAILEY, MOVE NOW!” Danse roared and sprinted towards her, sweat slowly running down the side of his face. He hit her full force to the side right as the mutant fired. The missile exploded right above Danse’s head on the wall and his ears were filled with a ringing noise. His vision was cloudy and he struggled slightly as he felt his helmet being pulled off. He felt warm, slender hands on his face and he opened his eyes slightly. Hailey’s armor and his armor were standing side by side and both backs were cracked open. He looked at Hailey’s face, masked with concern and her mouth moving without any sound coming out.

  
He could tell she was saying his name repeatedly, and saw her snap her fingers on either side of his head, testing his hearing. Danse just keep staring at Hailey trying to focus his eyes on her. He saw her get out a stimpack and felt a sharp pain then a slow warm feeling creep over him. His hearing came back like someone slowly turning up the volume on the radio.

  
“DANSE, CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Hailey yelled in his face, her hands rubbing his cheeks. Her gray eyes scanning his face anxiously.

  
“Just give me a second,” he said warily, nodding; or at least, attempting to. His words came out slurred and slow.

  
“We don’t have a second, there’s still that big mutant out there…” She said, flinching as another shot rang out. She stood up abruptly, grabbed Righteous Authority, and ran past her power armor to a small doorway for cover.

  
“Knight! Get in your armor, NOW!” Danse yelled as loud as he could. He tried to stand and his head started to spin, and he plopped back down, defeated for the time being. He continued to watch Hailey, the way she narrowed her eyes and frowned with concentration while firing at the mutant. Eventually it fell silent and she walked back over to Danse.  
While she was walking, he noticed her face changing expressions; as she got closer, he could see a dark red stain rapidly growing on the side of her abdomen. Danse sprang up, dizziness and pain be damned, and caught her as she fell limply into him. He lowered her down to the ground and propped her head up. Hailey’s white porcelain skin was now beyond white, and looked gray. He unzipped the front of her jumpsuit, pulling her arms out of the sleeves carefully and sliding the jumpsuit down to her waist.

  
“Keep pressure on it Hailey, where’s the stimpacks?” Danse took Hailey’s fragile hands into his large ones, and placed them over the wound on her side which was bleeding profusely. He pressed down on her wound and she groaned, but held the pressure when he let her go. She nodded towards her pack next to his armor and Danse ran over to the bag and dumped it on the ground, searching past all the junk she insisted on collecting and found two stimpacks. He snatched both up from the cold concrete floor and ran back over to her. He was surprised to find his hands shaking as he grabbed her hands and removed them from the bullet wound. He made eye contact with her and talked to her softly while he prepared to inject the stimpacks.

  
“Hailey… hey, look at me. This is going to hurt okay? It’ll feel better later, but it’s going to hurt like hell right now… keep looking at me… okay, here we go, don’t punch me.” He said, low and fast, underneath his breath and she gave him a small smile as he looked at her again, but that quickly changed when he injected both stimpacks on either side of the wound.

  
“FUCK! Danse, you liar!” She cried out and grabbed his arm, smearing blood over his jumpsuit.

  
“Hailey, you have to let go of me, I need to call Zane and we need to get out of here.” She released him, letting her hand fall to the ground as her eyes fluttered. Danse pulled out another syringe from next to him.

  
“This is Med-X, it’s gonna make the pain stop, I swear. You’ll most likely fall asleep though, it’s quite strong.” He muttered to her, injecting the medicine and seeing her eyes slip out of focus almost immediately. Danse stood up and rushed back over to where her bag was and found the radio in his power armor.

  
“Zane! Lancer Zane! This is Paladin Danse, Knight Miller is down and we need immediate air evac, right now, I’ll be carrying her up to the front of the fort. The area is clear of all hostiles now!” Danse yelled into the radio.

  
“Roger that, taking off right now.” A voice crackled back through the radio.

  
Danse gathered all of Hailey’s belongings, shoving them back into her bag, and slinging it over his shoulder. He jogged back over to Hailey and checked her breathing and pulse. Her chest rose and fell in shallow, sporadic movements and her pulse was weak. Danse knew he was running out of time. He scooped her up into his arms with ease and her head lolled around on her shoulders. He quickly ran through the building, tracing their steps and carefully cradling Hailey in his arms. He burst out the front door just as Lancer Zane and a scribe landed. Danse shift Hailey in his grip so he could sit and the scribe could work on her until they docked at the Prydwen.

  
The scribe put a makeshift dressing on her side until they reached the med bay where Cade was waiting. As soon as Danse set Hailey down on the hospital bed, she reached up and touched his face, not opening her eyes. Cade’s team of scribes whisked her away to a place behind a paper curtain and Cade grabbed a tray with scalpels, scissors and clamps. He Danse a wary look before disappearing behind the paper curtain.

  
Danse exhaled slowly and sat down in an open chair in the main room of the medical bay. He could almost hear the low conversation of Cade and the scribes as they worked on Hailey. He lowered his eyes down to his hands and felt a small lurch in his stomach. His hands… they were covered in her blood. He squeezed his fist shut and closed his eyes.  
So much blood. It wasn’t the first time he had been covered in blood, though. Cutler, and many more knights, scribes, and paladins, had been injured in battles with him. The first time that Danse had seen someone even get injured was a scribe who was on a patrol with him by the Citadel. His patrol was ambushed by a pack of feral ghouls and the scribe was bit on the shoulder and lost a fair amount of blood. Danse had been there with the scribe until they rolled him away for surgery, just like Cade did to Hailey moments before. Danse felt a large hand clamp down on his shoulder all of a sudden, and he looked up to see Maxson looking down at him.

  
“I’ll wait here brother, she won’t be alone. Go, wash yourself off and change.” Maxson said quietly, and shook Danse’s hand before Danse walked out of the med bay.  
Danse avoided eye contact with anyone he passed in the hall before he made it to his room. He walked straight into his private bathroom and looked into the mirror over the sink. His hair was tousled and sticking out in bizarre directions from running his hands through it. He looked horrible, his face was white and his eyes were bloodshot. His uniform was beyond saving, covered in Hailey’s ruby blood, Danse even had a little streak on his face where she had put her hand before they wheeled her back.

  
He turned on the warm water in the shower and stripped off his uniform. He glanced in the mirror once more, then stepped into the lukewarm water, letting it run over his shoulders. He let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes. Why was he even a paladin? All I do is let people get hurt, or let them die. He thought to himself, leaning his head against the wall. He slammed his fist against the wall a moment later, trying to block out the image of Hailey on the ground, bleeding out before his eyes. The only thing he could do was use his basic medical skills and call someone else for help.

  
The images left his mind, but images of Cutler replaced them. He wasn’t sure what thoughts were worse. Images of Cutler firing his gun with a smile on his face, Cutler splitting a bottle of vodka with him, Cutler training with him, talking with him. Then Cutler’s eyes, only his eyes and they were filled with pain. Danse squeezed his eyes shut tighter, and pressed the heels of his palms into them. He slowed his breathing, and the thoughts oozed out of his mind.

  
He climbed out of the shower and grabbed blindly for a towel. He dried himself off and put on a new uniform. This time when he looked in the mirror, his color was back and his hair was calmed down once again. He decided that getting some food was the best course of action right now, rather than hovering in the infirmary and stressing himself out. He walked down the corridor, resisting the urge to take a sharp left into the infirmary, and found himself in the mess hall. The dinner rush was on and the line for food was long.

  
After Danse had served himself the largest portion of radstag steak he could find, along with some tatos and carrots, he sat alone at a table trying to blend in with the wall. He failed miserably though as the hot-shot lancer tracked him down.

  
“Hey… how is she?” Zane probed softly as he sat down across from Danse.

  
“No idea, the Elder is with her right now. He dismissed me to clean up myself and get dinner.” Danse avoided eye contact with Zane and poked at his tatos with the fork in his hand.

  
“Oh, the Elder you say? That’s interesting…” Zane cocked an eyebrow at Danse, and began to tap his foot, obviously curious but not wanting to pry. Danse figured Zane and Ingram were going to have a hay-day with this later.

  
The two men ate their dinner in silence, and Danse mentally thanked Zane for it. He had no interest in talking, especially about Hailey, and her company in the infirmary. Danse stood up and said a quick goodbye to the lancer replied that he’d see him later. He set the tray down by the garbage and began to slowly walk back to the med bay, scared of what he might hear.

  
He didn’t even think about fearing what he might see, and what he did see made him stop in his tracks. Hailey was out of surgery and her face was still not the regular slightly warm color it usually was. She was dressed in a plain hospital gown, sitting on top of the covers, asleep. She looked so relaxed and at peace with the world when she was asleep, her face limp and her mind probably full of dreams. None of this made him feel like he got punched in the gut, though, than seeing her delicate hands, the ones that touched his face with such kindness at Fort Strong, wrapped in the embrace of Elder Maxon’s large, rough hands. He was sitting in a chair beside her bed, his shoulders hunched and his back to Danse. Maxson made no indication that he knew Danse was in the door way, just staring at them. The harder that Danse listened, he could tell that Maxson was talking to her softly under his breath.

  
Stopped cold in his tracks, he turned and headed straight to his room, trying to push the image of out his head. As hard as he tried, Danse couldn’t stop picturing it. After some time of pacing, then eventually laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, Danse began to see something new in his head.

  
It was the same scene, but they were his hands. He could almost feel Hailey’s small slender hands in his as he laid on his bed. He would tell her anything and everything she wanted to hear, talk to her all night even if she couldn’t hear him. He’d read her books, magazines, even technical documents if that’s what she wanted. It was now that Danse realized two things; that he’d do anything and everything for her, and that he’d be living in the shadow of the young Elder for the rest of his life. That hurt more than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, phew, that was a long chapter. It clocked in just over 4100 words. Can't believe I've broke 600 views on this, I didn't even think I'd make it past 200. Thank you so much for reading, and I'm hoping this chapter pulls on your heart strings a little. As always, drop a comment below, love hearing your thoughts.


	13. Tenderly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey wakes up from her injuries after Fort Strong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by Ella Fitzgerald.

_Hailey opened her eyes and felt the warm sunlight on her face. She wasn’t in the comfort of her own bed, but in another. She stretched out and ran her hand down the bare back next to her, listening to the waves on the shore. She cracked open her eyes and looked to her right at the mop of blonde hair sticking out in every direction in the cool air-conditioned room. She looked at her left hand, admiring the brand-new wedding band right next to her diamond engagement ring._

_It was June 21 st in 2075, and life could not be more perfect. Hailey married the love of her life the day before and now they were on their honeymoon in Delaware at a place named Rehoboth Beach. Hailey wiggled her way closer to Nate and curled against him smiling, breathing in his sweet, honey vanilla scent. It smelt like home to her. Nate chuckled sleepily and rolled over to face her and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. He grabbed her hands in his, and stared at her lovingly. Hailey smiled and closed her eyes, never wanting to leave this moment. _

-0o0-

Hailey awoke from her dream and kept her eyes closed, trying to remember the smile that curved his pink lips as they laid in that bed… over 200 years ago. She squinted her eyes shut tight, and realized that her hands were being cradled in someone else’s. There was also a soft low voice talking to her, not really saying anything important, just talking. She sighed lightly, enjoying the warm feeling coursing through her veins, and cracked open her eyes.

She was at first blinded by the light of the room she was in, then she came to recognize it as the medical bay… the _medical bay?_  The last thing she remembered was going into Fort Strong with Danse. The harder and harder she tried to think about it, the more she began to panic. She could hear her own heart monitor beep quickly in the background and she squeezed the large, rough hands that held hers. The gentle talking stopped as a deep voice called for Cade. Hailey blinked rapidly and focused on who was calling for Cade… Maxson?

Maxson rubbed her hands softly, trying to keep his voice level, but she could hear a small tone of worry, which heightened her pulse even more. Cade appeared next to her with a large syringe and injected it into her IV line. A lukewarm peace passed through her as he pushed the plunger down on the syringe. Hailey tried to fight her eyelids from drooping, but lost the fight and fell once again into the darkness.

-0o0-

_Hailey stared in the mirror at her body. So much has changed with it since she had gotten pregnant. The pregnancy took her and Nate by surprise, as it must have happened when Nate was home on leave for Christmas. She was about six months along now, and it was showing. Her old dresses didn’t fit and she was forced to wear maternity clothing. Nate was somewhere in Anchorage, and hadn’t wrote in a while. His letters were becoming more and more scrawled, some crumpled up with anger as he expressed how he longed to return home. About three weeks ago, in Hailey’s last letter, Hailey’s mother had taken a picture of her from the side, about 3 weeks ago, so Nate could see how big she was getting. She hoped that wherever he was, he had the picture and had gotten her letter. Hailey wandered out into the living room of the powder blue house, pouring herself a cup of decaf coffee. It tasted like shit, but she was trying not to drink caffeine while she was pregnant. She moseyed over to the TV and flipped on the news, which always seemed to be playing some sort of bad news. True to the letter, the news anchor announced that Anchorage was currently under attack by the Chinese. Hailey’s heart plummeted…_ Nate _._

-0o0-

Hailey woke up once again, feeling more clear-headed this time. She was slightly uncomfortable, due to a small burning feeling in her side. She opened her eyes slowly and remembered she was in the medical bay. She successfully stayed calm this time and began to look around, only to be surprised to find Danse sitting in a chair that was way too tiny for his large body. He was sitting at an awkward angle, his head leaned back, his mouth slightly open. In the silence Hailey could hear that he was snoring softly. He looked… terrible. His stubble had grown out into a small beard, his hair was a mess and he had dark circles underneath his eyes.

He didn’t even appear to be sleeping peacefully, as his thick eyebrows would burrow and then relax. He occasionally twitched as well. Hailey laid there observing him for a while, then tried to speak.

“ _D…an...se”_ She croaked out, her throat dry. She cleared her throat loudly, then tried again.

“D…anse…Danse…” She managed to say, and he stirred slightly. She said his name again, still weakly but louder than a whisper. His eyes shot open, and he was out of the chair before they were even completely open. He knelt next to her and put his hand awkwardly on her shoulder, his eyes scanned her face.

“Wha...what happened?” She whispered. Danse stood up and walked silently over to a table to grab a can of water, and brought it back to Hailey and drug his chair closer to her bed. She drank hungrily, feeling her throat return to normal conditions.

Danse told her about Fort Strong, about the missiles and her getting out of her armor to help him, then how he noticed that she was wounded. Cade operated on her for two hours attempting to retrieve the fragments from the bullet in her. Danse shifted uncomfortably in his seat the entire time he spoke, and never made eye contact. Hailey sensed something was off, but her mind was racing too fast to bring it up. Danse never really talked about himself with her anyways. When he was finished speaking, he stood up abruptly and stared at her.

“I have to alert Elder Maxson of your condition, excuse me.” He said professionally, and nodded towards Hailey then turned and left.

Maxson…her mind flashed back to when she first woke up. He was sitting with her, holding her hands softly and speaking to her. She blushed thinking that the leader of the Brotherhood would come to her bedside and waste his time talking to her. _And_ he requested to be notified as to when she woke up. Hailey turned her mind away from Maxson for a moment and to her right side. She lifted the blankets and felt tenderly down her side, pulling aside the hospital gown she was in only to find her side covered by thick gauze.

She frowned as she poked at the bandages and attempted to pull them away from her skin to look at the wound.

“Knight, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Cade will go into a fit, it’s been hard enough bandaging you already.” A deep voice came from the doorway. Hailey turned her head and saw the Elder; hair slightly ruffled and battle coat haphazardly threw on. He strode in, clearly failing to hide the excitement on his face at seeing her awake.

“Don’t look too pleased Elder, you’re giving away all your secrets with that smirk.” Hailey laughed then grimaced slightly at the sharp prick in her side. “How long has it been since Fort Strong? I vaguely remember waking up at one point.”

“Uhh…” Maxson shifted uncomfortably and settled in the chair that Danse had sat in not too long ago. “It’s been almost thirty-six hours. It’s about 0200 hours right now, you were out of surgery at 1500 hours over a day ago.”

Hailey leaned back in the hospital bed and stared at the ceiling. Maxson’s hands flinched like they were going to reach out for her, but thought against it. Hailey could hear him breathing deeply as if trying to calm himself, or even control himself, she wasn’t sure. He sighed out loud, and then clasped his hands together. Hailey realized, that the leader of the Brotherhood, a young confident man, was nervous to be here talking to her.

“You scared me…I won’t lie. I was in here after Danse carried you in, and I saw his uniform, hands, and a streak of blood on his face…I thought for sure that you were going to die.” Maxson looked at Hailey, and she stared back at him, her gray eyes boring into his ice blue ones. She frowned slightly, scanning Maxson’s face for answers. He wasn’t giving her any.

“You care about all your soldiers this much? Especially the newest recruit?” Hailey probed.

“Well, no. To be entirely honest with you, this is the first time I’ve ever stepped into the medical bay to see a hurt brother or sister.” Maxson’s eyes looked away from Hailey’s; regret flashed through them.

“Why me?” Hailey held her breath at her own boldness, waiting for him to reply. Maxson let out a long breath and leaned back in the chair, pushing the two front legs off the ground.

“It just felt right…” Maxson’s eyes were back on Hailey’s, and she blushed under his gaze. She let out the breath she was holding in as Maxson set the two front legs of the chair down on the floor. He reached out slowly, as if waiting for Hailey to say something, and then grabbed her hand in his. His hands were warm and calloused but strangely soft. Maxson looked down at their hands, a smirk threatening to appear on his lips.

“HAILEY! Jesus fuck, I thought you were never going to wake up! I’ve been so BORED.” Lancer Zane kicked through the med bay door. Despite it being almost 3:00 A.M., he was as chipper as ever. Maxson jerked his hand away from Hailey’s as if he’d touched a hot iron. Hailey cast a quick look at Maxson, who was beet red. She then turned her attention to the tall lancer, giving him what she hoped was a look to convey what horrible timing he had.

Zane smiled and winked at Hailey, clearly receiving her message and not caring. He in fact seemed to be enjoying the embarrassed Elder. Maxson stood up and nodded silently to Hailey, then grunted a greeting to Zane as the lancer, who still had a stupid ass grin on his face, saluted the Elder. Maxson walked quickly out of the med bay, and Hailey could hear his quarter’s door slam loudly. Zane happily bounced over to sit where Maxson was moments before and cast Hailey an all-knowing smile.

“Wow, what did I walk in on? Lord Almighty, I’d easily pay a thousand caps to see that go down again. Wait ‘til Ingram gets a load of that…” He laughed loudly and shook his head, ruffling his hair in the process.

“How did you find out I was awake at this time of night?” Hailey said as calmly as she could, trying not to strangle the man in front of her.

“Well…I was with Ingram in the power armor bay, kicking back and drinking a lukewarm beer when your beloved Paladin stomped in and angrily started hammering away on his power armor. Naturally, I tried to talk to him, but he could barely get out the words that you were finally awake. So, here I am.” Zane looked at Hailey, and his smile faded away to a smirk. “You going to tell me what all that shit was about?”

“Hell, if I knew Zane, I’d tell you in a heartbeat. I’m not even sure myself. We were about to discuss it before _someone_ came bursting in. Jerk.” Hailey said glaring at Zane. As much as she wanted to hate him in this moment, she couldn’t. She liked his companionship too much; they just clicked. It reminded her of Preston’s friendship…they just got each other.

“So sorry for caring…” Zane dragged on, the sentence laced with sarcasm. He grinned wide again. “We should see if you’re healed enough to get some shore leave and we can go to Diamond City tomorrow…well tomorrow as in later today.” Zane babbled on as Hailey spaced off.

“Knight Miller.” A quiet voice said, and Hailey turned to see Cade in the doorway of his office. He smiled softly. “Glad to have you awake again. It seems like you’re having an easier time with it. Mind if I take a look?” He said, gesturing to her side as he moved closer. Hailey noticed the exhaustion on his face as he stepped into the dim lighting. Hailey nodded and cast a look at Zane.

“Well doc, it’s nice to see you as always, thanks for taking such great care of her...see you later Hailey.” He said, disappearing just as fast as he appeared.

“I hope we didn’t-ow-wake you up Cade.” Hailey grimaced as he helped her sit up and began to gently unwind the bandages. Cade muttered a soft apology but shook his head to Hailey as he looked intently at her wound. Hailey looked down and saw about an inch and a half of stitches on her side.

“The original wound wasn’t this big, but the bullet shrapnel spread everywhere and I had to make sure I got it all. You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, I couldn’t help but notice you have a cesarean scar. Pre-war?” Cade asked as he felt the stitches.

“Yeah…pre-war.” Hailey confirmed softly. Cade looked up at her for a moment, his face full of sympathy.

“I’m sorry for your loss…” he said, looking back down at her side. Hailey almost corrected him, but thought better of it. It’d been so long since she thought about Shaun. Cade dressed the wound in fresh gauze then stood up.

“Well it’s looking pretty good, get some more sleep and we’ll talk about you getting up and around in the morning.” Cade retreated into his office to leave Hailey alone with her thoughts.

After killing Kellogg, Hailey didn’t do anything for a straight week, just laid in bed. Dogmeat stayed by her side and the settlers in Sanctuary brought her food and water. Mama Murphy came in to pressure her into bathing every other day. Kellogg’s words still rang through her head; Shaun wouldn’t want her, and how could she even care for a child out in the wasteland? After her week in bed, Hailey emerged a stronger, better woman. She pushed aside her personal struggles and lent a hand to those in need.

She quickly built eight settlements spread all over the Commonwealth. She built stores and established trade lines, even put in some back breaking work to help the settlers build a successful farm. Hailey and Preston, with a small crew of Minutemen, took back The Castle and fought the mirelurk queen who resided there with no casualties. The Minutemen were a force to be reckoned with once again with their deeply connected patrols and trade routes. The artillery only helped the cause. With Preston and Ronnie Shaw leading in her absence she had no doubt the cause was in good hands. She really needed to escape back to Sanctuary, maybe with the shore leave that Zane talked about. She needed to go home.  

Hailey laid in the hospital bed, listening to Travis on Diamond City radio talk about the Brotherhood taking back Fort Strong with a smile on her face. She gently slipped into a deep sleep.

-0o0-

_Cold, so cold._

_“Manual override initiated. Cryogenic stasis suspended.”_

Hailey was back in the vault again, watching the worst moment of her life play out again. _Wake up, wake up please_ , she begged her mind. She knew she was dreaming, but it didn’t dull the emotions from what she was seeing. Kellogg opened Nate’s pod once again, and she heard her lover’s voice, and saw his outline struggle to keep Shaun in his arms. The shot rang out and Nate slumped back as hot tears ran down Hailey’s face. Rage filled her body and a new fire ignited. Kellogg stepped up to the glass, and Hailey prepared herself to look into his eyes once more…but it wasn’t Kellogg this time. It was another man who had bright green eyes and light brown hair, dusted with grey. He had Nate’s nose and her smile as he sneered at her through the glass.

“ _Hello mother.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a short one, but I didn't feel like it would do Hailey's reunion with Sanctuary any good if I jammed it into this chapter. So hopefully I will have the other one up after the weekend. Chapter 1 is still in the works, and I now strongly recommend reading it when I post it. I love hearing from you guys, so comment if you want to say anything!


	14. Whatever Lola Wants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey, Zane, and Danse get some much deserved shore leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by Sara Vaughn.
> 
> Beta-Reader: lobitoglobo

Hailey, Danse, and Zane, left Boston Airport after Hailey was cleared by Cade. She was slightly sore and couldn’t walk for long periods of time and Cade required her to wear her power armor with extra padding around her wound. He also requested that they take it slow, telling them to spend the night in Diamond City, then stop in at the police station to check on Haylen and Rhys, as well as give Hailey a second to rest her injuries.

Danse mapped out a safe, discreet route for them to take to Diamond City. They strode into town, running into nothing but a couple of rad roaches along the way. Hailey couldn’t help but think of Nate every time she walked into the stadium. He was so youthful back then, no scars or wrinkles, his child like innocence and hope still on his face. That was before Anchorage, and when he returned Nate… just wasn’t the same. He stayed like that, just going through the motions until Shaun was born. When Hailey was in the final months of the pregnancy and Nate was home, he’d lay there with her for hours, just touching her stomach, and something that resembled peace would shine in his eyes.

Hailey’s chest felt heavy, and she thought about her nightmare last night. She hadn’t dreamed about Shaun, Nate, or the vault since she killed Kellogg. She pondered on the thought of the nightmare being a sign as they trounced down the stairs into the marketplace below. They must have looked like an odd group because people kept staring at them. Hailey had popped off her helmet and tucked it underneath her arm while Danse kept his on. Zane, who wasn’t wearing power armor at all, sparked up the cigarette which hung loosely from his lips.

Zane wandered off towards the Super Salon and greeted John with a handshake and chatter. Danse and Hailey proceeded in silence towards Commonwealth Weaponry to pay a visit to Arturo. Danse chatted idly with Arturo as they shopped, making no point to include Hailey in on the conversation, which was fine with her. She was wrapped up in her own thoughts as she felt a slight shove on her shoulder.

“Blue! You just think you can waltz into town and not stop at my office?” Piper said looking up at Hailey with her nose scrunched. “It’s been too long, I haven’t seen you since the interview.”

“Interview? With you? Sign me up, I’ll buy the drinks. I have a really bad fear of opening up in front of a crowd though, so we better do this at your office?” Came a loud voice from behind Piper as Zane casually strolled to them, his hair and beard freshly trimmed.

“Sorry, I haven’t been planning to interview dickheads for a while now.” Piper retorted and Zane looked personally offended for a second before he laughed.

“Ahh… I see. You haven’t done an interview with one since Miller here. If you’re ever interested, all you have to do is blink.” He stared at her intently as she laughed and turned away from him. Hailey laughed along with her at Zane’s attempt at flirting being shot down so hard.

“Let’s catch up, later, shall we? Nick has been looking for you too…” Piper looked away from Hailey and the air of the conversation changed.

“Uhh… yeah, maybe. We’re only staying here for the night and have to leave pretty early tomorrow.” Hailey mumbled, shifting her feet uncomfortably. Hailey hadn’t seen Nick since they had gotten back from killing Kellogg. Hailey had left Diamond City soon after she talked to Nick and Piper about going to the Memory Den in a place called Goodneighbor. Piper gave Hailey a small frown but shrugged nonchalantly, turning around to head back to her office.

“See you later beautiful!” Zane called after her as she was walking away. He turned to Hailey with a grin on his face. “Who’s that?”

“Just a friend…” Hailey said quietly as she turned back to Arturo and began counting out caps for her new gear. Danse moved next to Hailey and she flinched, forgetting he was even there.

“Well, shall we go explore? I have a settlement nearby that I need to pay a visit to about some raiders. We can come back later and grab a beer and bed down here for the night.” Hailey said as she cleared her throat.

“Even as the general you have to go around talking to settlers and fixing their problems? You don’t have grunts to do that for you?” Zane inquired, staring at Hailey in disbelief.

“I’m not Maxson, I actually meet with my people and sort out problems myself. I’m more of the boots to ground type.” Hailey said nonchalantly.

“Knight Miller, I won’t allow you to speak down to the Elder that way in my presence. He is your leader, and is very well versed in both warfare and diplomacy. He’s been doing it for longer than you have, this is a different world than the one you’re used to. Also, address him as the Elder. Always.” Danse barked from beside her, his brows furrowing in frustration and his voice taking on an edge of authority.

“Excuse me?” Hailey rounded on him. “I’ve had enough of your shitty attitude lately Paladin, ever since we went to Fort Strong you’ve been acting like an asshole. I’m going to my settlement without you, we’ll meet you back here later. Shape up.” She snapped at him, her annoyance and anger bubbling over. She turned and stomped away from him.

“KNIGHT…. KNIGHT MILLER!” He called after her across the market place and the residents stopped to stare at them. Hailey kept walking and stuck her middle finger up in the air as Zane cackled next to her at her general disregard for authority at this moment.

“Oh my GOD. I have to piss you off more, that was fucking hilarious.” Zane wiped the tears budding from the corners of his eyes. “The look on the tin can’s face… oh man.” He breathed in and out heavily, trying not to laugh again as Hailey cracked a smile.

“I’m not lying though, Danse has been unreasonably rude since I woke up from Fort Strong.” Hailey said to Zane as they made their way to the settlement. “He was by my side when I woke up the second time and then he left suddenly to get Maxson and hasn’t really talked to me since.”

“Well, word around the power armor bay is that he likes you a little more than a commanding officer should like a subordinate.” Zane said smiling at Hailey and waggling his eye brows suggestively.

“Just because you and Ingram think that’s what’s going on, doesn’t mean it’s true you gossip… well, here it is. Hangman’s Alley. Just follow me and try not to scare people.” Hailey said, quickly changing the subject and nodding at the guard as he saluted her.

“I’ll avoid eye contact then.” Zane said wandering off to explore the small settlement.

Hailey met with the settlement leader and talked about the raiders. They were typical raiders, larger sized gang and were holed up in Back Street Apparel. Hailey shook the leader’s hand and left, Zane in tow.

-0o0-

“Who would have thought that raiders would have that much shit?” Zane inquired as Hailey set down the large pile of scrap she had collected after successfully killing the raiders. She had also found a decent supply of food and caps. She gave the settlers the food, but they refused to take the caps, saying she deserved them. She dropped the small pouch into her bag and climbed back into her power armor.

By the time Zane and Hailey made it back to Diamond City it was dusk, the red and orange light spreading through the sky. Nat King Cole’s _Orange Colored Sky_ played through Hailey’s Pip-Boy and she had to take a second to admire the beauty of this world, even with the rubble of the buildings; a front to what once was 200 years ago. She could still remember walking down the streets with Nate, the wind blowing her hair softly and the bustle of city life around her. Now, there was a wind, but it smelled of dust and rubble. The surroundings were silent minus the rattle from turrets and the soft footsteps of Diamond City guards as they made their rounds.

Hailey and Zane bounced down the stairs just in time for Hailey to sell Arturo the slightly modified pipe pistols she had picked off the raiders. With a pocketful of caps, Zane and Hailey set off towards the Dugout Inn to get a room for the night. After talking with Yefim, they rented the last two rooms.

“Now, in true Brotherhood fashion, let’s get wasted, shall we?” Zane said with a mischievous smile. “Where’s your friend? Is she uhh… stopping by?” He looked hopefully around the room for Piper.

“She should be here soon. Now buy me a beer.” Hailey said, checking the clock on her Pip-Boy.

“Whatever you say Miller.” Zane said, flipping a cap off his thumb and catching it as he strolled away. He returned with four beers, draining one entirely and moving to his second one. Hailey laughed and he looked at her and simply said, “Confidence.”

“You… Lancer Zane of the Brotherhood of Steel, needing a confidence beer? Good lord, is it the second end of the world?” Hailey said, drawing her hand up to her chest in fake shock. Zane glared at her.

“I’ve never had someone so openly turn me down, it hurt my feelers and my confidence just a little. I have smooth moves, one can’t deny, but that woman is stone cold.” He fiddled around with his beard, combing his fingers through it. “So now, I’m determined.”

“Wait until you get to know her, I don’t think she’d ever be with anyone from the Brotherhood, but Zane I’d love to see you try, and will laugh when she shuts you down again.” Hailey clinked her bottle to his in a false toast and drank deeply. “Speaking of the Brotherhood, where the hell is Danse?”

“Who the hell cares? That dude is a giant dick bag. Not to mention he sucks the fun out of everything.” Zane said, taking another swig out of the beer in front of him. “I’m not even sure why he likes yo-“ Zane stopped talking as Piper threw herself down into a chair next to Hailey. Zane just keep staring at her with a weird look on his face. Piper shifted uncomfortably until Hailey broke the silence.

“Hey Piper, how was your day?” Hailey asked, passing one of the beers to Piper.

“Oh you know, just further inspiring the revolution against the mayor. Also saw your Paladin head up into the stands with a bottle of whiskey right before I came in here. He looked pretty angry.” Piper said lightly, taking a long drink of beer, then pulling a face. “Stout, really? Where’s the Pilsner?”

Zane inhaled sharply, snapping out of his daze. “What, you don’t like stout? Are you kidding me? Pilsner is basically bottled piss.” Piper and Zane began to launch into a lightly heated conversation about what beer was better, and all the different variables that make it better.

Hailey began to space off and think about Danse sitting alone at night in the stands. He must not get a lot of shore leave, so why would he spend it alone? Hailey knew he was pretty furious at her insubordination earlier, and that she was probably the last person he’d want to see right now, but she was going to go out there and get him. He wasn’t going to have a shitty time on leave because of her. Hailey stood up, unnoticed by the two arguing over beer, and snuck away from the table.

It wasn’t hard to spot Danse; the orange jumpsuit stuck out like a sore thumb against the black of the stadium. The suit of power armor standing next to him glaringly didn’t help, either. Hailey made her way over to where he was sitting in the very back of the city. He looked at her once then rolled his eyes and looked away, staying silent. As she sat down next to him, she inhaled sharply and groaned at the pain in her side. She overexerted herself today and now she was paying for it. Danse took a pull off the bottle and passed it to her, and she drank a small sip and began to cough at the burn in her throat.

“Man, I love the taste, but it’s been awhile. Little over 210 years to be exact.” Hailey said, wiping the whiskey off her lips with the sleeve of her jumpsuit.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were the ‘Woman Out of Time’?” Danse said, quoting the stupid nickname Piper gave her in the article of Publik Occurrences.

“Honestly Danse, I try to forget about that myself. Besides, you never asked.” Hailey huffed, taking another swig out of the bottle and offering it back to Danse.

“I’ve always heard about the vault dweller on the radio, but never really made the connection until I read that article today.” Danse took the bottle from her. “Speaking of today, you really pissed me off Miller. I’ve never seen such a vulgar disregard of my authority before.”

“Well, I got tired of you being an ass, and I had stuff I had to do. I’m going to apologize about it, but not for the meaning, just how I conveyed it. My anger got the best of me, and I’ll try to bring it up to you before it gets that bad again.” Hailey huffed, deciding it was better to agree to disagree now. They sat there in silence, listening to the radio on Hailey’s Pip-Boy. After some time, to her surprise Danse laughed.

“It reminded me of my buddy Cutler, from back in the Capital Wasteland. He just didn’t care and I really admired that about him, because I cared too much.” He took another swig. “He tortured Maxson a lot when he was younger. We weren’t that much older than him but it was still funny to watch Cutler screw with Maxson.”

“I can’t imagine you letting that happen. You nearly skinned me alive earlier about Maxson.” Hailey looked at Danse, trying to picture him being more carefree than the hard-ass he was today.

“Well, a lot has changed.” Danse coughed slightly. “If you want, I can tell you about it…”

“Yeah, if you want to Danse… I’m not going to pressure you into it.” Hailey tried to contain her pure fascination at this moment. Danse was finally opening up, granted the whiskey bottle felt a little light.

“Well, you know I’m not the best at these things… feelings.” Danse said, laughing slightly. “Cutler and I were best friends, not only in the Brotherhood, but before the Brotherhood. We actually lived in Rivet City, which was right by the Citadel on an old military freight ship…” Danse rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and paused to take a drink. “Some recruiters came through and we were young and wanted to get the hell out of there, so we joined. We didn’t really know anything about them, but we fell in line with their ideals at the time; to help the Commonwealth and preserve technology. We were both stupid and wild, and we partied a lot and raised hell.”

He continued, exhaling shakily, “The Brotherhood’s main goals at this point in time were to eradicate all of the super mutants in the capital, since they were over run with them. Cutler went out on a search and destroy mission, and his team disappeared along with him…” Danse paused again, ringing the bottle tightly in his hands. When he spoke, his voice shook. “I and another select few were sent in to try and retrieve them or their bodies… whatever we could find, even if it was just their holotags. We found bits and pieces of the team, but we couldn’t identify which bodies were which. A brother on my team found all their holotags minus Cutler’s.” Danse paused again, drinking for a longer amount of time from the bottle, and this time didn’t reopen his eyes when he went to drink. Hailey held her breath, waiting to hear the horrific end to this story.

“The building wasn’t completely cleared during the raid by Cutler’s team. His brothers and sisters must have struggled which lead to their deaths. I couldn’t imagine Cutler going down without a fight, so he must have been incapacitated in some manner. When I swept through the rest of the building, it became obvious that the mutants were capturing people and injecting them with the FEV and turning them into mutants. As I was stopped in awe of what monsters these were, one punched me right in the back. When I turned around… I could tell, I just knew it was him. His holotags were in that room, and so was he. But he wasn’t Cutler anymore… I had no choice but to… put him down myself…” Danse choked on the last word and Hailey sat in a stunned silence.

It explained so much, his behavior towards her and his feelings towards mutants. She thought back to the night on the top of the police station, when Danse explained to her what super mutants were. How he had difficultly speaking, and clenched his fists throughout the entire conversation. His best friend was _turned_ into one, and he had to kill him. What was she supposed to say to that? Hailey couldn’t find words to express her inner turmoil, so she settled with reaching out and grabbing his large hand in hers. Danse flinched but sighed and grasped onto her hand. He passed her back the whiskey bottle.

“I think I’ve had enough…” He muttered. “I trust you know that story was a personal one, and shouldn’t be repeated outside of us.” He looked at Hailey, and she squeezed his hand.

“I know Danse. Thank you for trusting me with this… You okay?” Hailey said, staring at him. He nodded slightly, and looked away and up at the stars.

“Did you get a room at the Dugout Inn?” Hailey asked and Danse shook his head. “There’s a couch in mine if you want to crash in there. I have no idea what room Zane got, and you probably don’t want to bunk with him anyways.” Hailey and Danse laughed then stood up. Danse swayed slightly, and Hailey threw his arm over her shoulder and helped him through the rubble back to their power armor. He surprisingly held his own weight well, but had uneven footing. Hailey was there more for back up then actually supporting him. He climbed into his power armor and Hailey shivered as his body heat left her side. He was like a space heater, and in the cold February night, that heat was much needed.

Hailey climbed up into her own power armor and they made their way back to the Dugout. As they walked in, Hailey could see that Piper and Zane were still talking and were surrounded by more beer bottles. Zane waved at the pair, but didn’t get up to talk to them, Piper waved too and winked at Hailey. Hailey and Danse went to their room, storing their power armor in the corner of the room. They went to bed in silence. Hailey took the bed and shut off the lights laying there staring at the ceiling. She could hear Danse breathing and from the rate of it, he was still awake as well.

Hailey felt peaceful, just knowing that there was someone else in the room with her, and even more so that it was Danse. She thought about what he told her earlier about Cutler. He guarded himself around her to prevent them from growing closer, because he could lose her like he lost Cutler. It also explained why he was so protective of his teammates and of Hailey on missions. He just can’t stand to lose any more brothers or sisters. So, he was always on guard; a true watchdog.

-0o0-

Hailey woke up with a start when the room door closed. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed, and peered over to the couch. Danse was gone but his suit of armor still stood next to hers. She rolled over and checked the clock on her Pip-Boy, 7:32 A.M… They were supposed to head out in half an hour. Hailey pulled herself up, ran a brush through her hair, and walked out into the Dugout Inn. After talking with Vadim at the bar, she found out Zane’s room number and knocked loudly on the door.

“ _Come on in!”_ He yelled from behind the door, and Hailey opened the door to find Zane slicking his hair into place and Danse lounging on the couch. Danse sat up straight and looked at Hailey as she walked in, a small red tint crawling onto his cheeks.

“God, your friend Piper is a firecracker, I had like _way_ too much fun last night. You guys really missed out. There’s always tonight though, when we’re in your stomping grounds, Hailey.” Zane looked at Hailey in the worn mirror that was hanging on the wall.

“Definitely. Then, we can sleep in and use a vertibird to get back to the Prydwen, cause I’m not walking all the way back, especially hung over.” Hailey laughed as Zane gathered his back pack.

They all walked back to Hailey and Danse’s room so they could jump in their suits and begin their long trek to the Police Station in Cambridge. If everything went smoothly, they should be there before noon. They made a quick stop by Solomon to grab some booze for Sanctuary, which Solomon didn’t charge them for. Hailey hadn’t paid for a thing since she kept a steady supply of mutated fern leaf coming through with Minutemen supply lines.

Danse, Hailey, and Zane headed out of Diamond City only about forty-five minutes behind schedule. Zane drug his feet and kept looking at Piper’s house, but didn’t say anything. They chatted idly and walked through the city, the tension between Danse and Hailey gone due to their talk last night. Hailey felt guilty for not holding up her end of the bargain and telling him about her past. She decided she would tell him tonight, and maybe drink a little whiskey too, to help get the words out.

The trio ran into Jake Finch, which was one of Hailey’s provisioners that ran a route from Finch Farm to Graygarden. She stopped to talk to him for a short amount of time, trading some basic supplies and trading settlement news. Hailey was relieved to hear that all the settlements were doing well, but then again, she had faith in Preston as a leader. At the mention of Preston, Danse walked over.

“I wonder if we’ll run into him at the police station, I guess it’s a pretty normal occurrence these days. Haylen and I talk occasionally.” He said, his neck getting red.

“Hopefully we do run into him, I want to make sure he’s there tonight, it feels like forever since I’ve seen him.” Hailey remarked, and she noticed Danse and Zane dodging eye contact with her. Instead of trying to get an answer out of them, she decided to let it go.

They walked into the police station and were greeted by Rhys and Haylen. Rhys shook Hailey’s hand, and she almost fell over when he told her congratulations on Fort Strong, and asked her how she was doing. Rhys was never nice to her, and was such a hard-ass when she joined up. Apparently, all she had to do was help the Elder and he was kissing her ass. Hailey smiled internally and greeted Haylen warmly.

“Hey Haylen, is Preston somewhere around here?” Hailey inquired.

“Sorry Hailey, he’s not. He came by yesterday, but didn’t say where they were going. How have things been though? Are you liking the Brotherhood so far?” Haylen said, casually changing the subject.

“I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to experience it so far, thanks to some super mutants but so far, so good.” Hailey smiled at Haylen and sat down in a chair, bracing herself on the way down on the table.

Hailey and Haylen continued to talk about how things have been before Danse interrupted and drug Haylen away from her. Hailey turned her attention to Rhys and Zane who were currently arm wrestling at the table talking about new places to scout out.

“Hailey’s been everywhere for the Minutemen she knows…” Zane pushed Rhys’ hand down to the table with only some resistance. “She knows where all the good locations are. The Minutemen need them cleared just as much as we do, so next time when Garvey rolls through, collaborate with him and work out a deal on who gets what when Hailey eventually has to come through there again.”

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you signing me up for?” Hailey called over to the pair and they looked at her and laughed.

“Nothing that you haven’t already signed yourself up for General.” Rhys said to her in a mocking tone, and she flipped him off and turned back around to disassemble Righteous Authority for maintenance cleaning. She also pulled out some mole rat jerky and chewed on that to keep herself focused. She could hear footsteps coming from upstairs from Danse and Haylen. It sounded like pacing because they would walk for about ten seconds then stop, then walk again.

Hailey could feel a wave of exhaustion wash over her from staying up last night and getting up early this morning. She still wasn’t back one hundred percent from her injuries and she dreaded the trek to Sanctuary. Zane and Danse could wait an hour while she took a nap. She walked into the makeshift bunk room that Rhys had set up and laid down in one of the empty beds. She was asleep before she even took her boots off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading. Long chapter this time. Next chapter will be another fun one, then back to the story line if everything works out okay. Thanks for hanging in there.


	15. Moonlight Serenade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little shindig in Sanctuary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to lobitoglobo, my [B]eta.

Danse returned down the stairs with Haylen in tow. He trusted Haylen with a lot of things and desperately needed to talk to her about what had been going on in his head lately about Knight Miller. He hated to pull Haylen away from her conversation with Miller since they hadn’t seen each other in a while, but he needed her advice, because it was usually right on point. When they returned to the first floor of the police station, Danse could see Hailey curled into a small ball on a bed in the corner fast asleep. Zane and Rhys were sitting across from each other and Rhys had a bloody rag under his nose and Zane had a light purple ring around his eye. Danse cast them each a quizzical look.

“Wrestling got a little out of control.” Zane said simply, kicking his boots up onto the table, leaning back into his chair.

“You two are children, you know that right?” Haylen scolded them, crossing her arms. Zane and Rhys tapped their beer bottles together in response and both took deep swigs.

“You guys coming to Sanctuary with us for the night?” Danse looked at Haylen then Rhys. They both nodded.

“Maxson actually gave us clearance to leave with you guys. Must be pretty important if Maxson issued the order and actually knows about it.” Rhys raised an eyebrow.

“Or it’s just ‘cause it’s a party for Hailey.” Zane said quietly, casting a look at Hailey’s sleeping form.

“I’d hate to wake her up right now, but we should really get going; it could take a while to get there. If we leave now even in the longest scenario we’d be rolling in just short of 1800 hours.” Danse said, stepping towards Hailey, but Haylen cut him off.

“I’ll wake her up.” Haylen said curtly and went over to gently shake Hailey.

The next ten minutes passed in silence as Danse and the rest of the crew got their belongings together. Hailey cast them all a weird look when Haylen and Rhys said they were joining but quickly went back to her normal slight smirk. Danse could tell that the cogs were turning in her head. He didn’t want to encourage that at _all,_ so they all packed in silence.

On their way to Sanctuary, the men walked together while the woman strayed out ahead, Hailey and Haylen chatting away. Danse, Zane and Rhys discussed new power armor mods they had tried and when the last time they had upgraded their weapons. Danse couldn’t help but feel anxious about tonight; his stomach reflected his thoughts. Maxson had asked a lot of questions about it, and Danse had the feeling he was going to show up. What was he playing at? Going off board as an Elder, to attend a party for a Knight that was just inducted? The rumors were going to fly.

Danse started to zone off in his thoughts before a bullet whizzed by his ear. He crouched immediately and pointed his laser rifle at a raider in power armor that came from behind them.

“Engaging hostiles!” He yelled, as he fired round after round at the raider. He could hear the raider scream and saw a glint in the sun.

“MOLOTOV, DOWN DOWN!” Zane yelled raising his gun up to take a couple of shots from the air.

“I got it!” Hailey yelled from behind them raising a new 10mm that Danse hadn’t seen before. A shot rang out and the bottle exploded and rained hellfire down on the raider. Hailey shot again and the raider dropped dead with a hole in between his eyes and half his face charred from the Molotov cocktail.

“Good thing I’m with you guys, I don’t know if you would have lived through that baby raider.” Hailey laughed and turned around continuing to head north.

“Just stay sharp, they travel in packs.” Danse called out to her and she waved her hand lazily in acknowledgement.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. They did run into more raiders as the sun began to lower in the sky, crossing through Concord. With five highly skilled Brotherhood soldiers, they cut through them like butter. Danse could see the proverbial skip that appeared in Hailey’s step as a Red Rocket came into view. They stopped by so she could empty her scrap into the already overflowing workshop and leave her power armor there.

He stood in awe of what she had done to the place to make it her own, lightbulbs on a string lit the entire front of the gas station, and she had scavenged old posters, and magazines and had displayed them in frames and on magazine stands. He noticed that she had an old beat up radio in the shop and he could almost picture her hunched over the workbench. She would be tinkering with something that Garvey had no doubt asked her to repair. She had also built a dummy, and a blue suit was on it, covered in armor. Danse moved closer, and saw it was her vault suit; Vault 111. She’d never told him the number of the vault and he had never asked. To see it displayed here, such a private part of her life, he didn’t feel like looking at it anymore.

Danse could see that she was pressing on her side but she didn’t show any indication of being uncomfortable or being in pain. As they crossed the bridge into Sanctuary, Danse noticed that the bridge had been hand patched. There were two tall guard towers both manned by members of the Minutemen dressed in colonial garb. They both saluted Hailey, and she nodded at them both. Right as their feet hit the concrete street, a brown and black ball hurled itself at Hailey, and she giggled as Dogmeat licked her face, clearly happy to see her again. Haylen pulled Hailey into a house just like they had planned so she could meet with Garvey. In the meantime, Danse, Zane, and Rhys were helping with the decorations for tonight and for the cookout. They had set up a dance floor with a large table on an empty foundation where one of the old houses used to be.

“Hey, she’s in there talking with Preston, we have at least an hour.” Haylen said from behind Danse, making him jump as he admired the peacefulness of the settlement.

“This place is amazing… how did she do it?” Danse said, gesturing to the oil lamps outside of every house and the large generator that supplied power all throughout the settlement.

“I guess she knew how to do some of it already, then Sturges, the guy in the overalls by the fire, taught her the rest.” Haylen said quietly, looking around the settlement.

“Wow, I’ve never even heard of this place before.” Danse looked down at Haylen.

“Well, you have to listen to the radio more often then, Travis pretty much only talks about Hailey. You’d probably enjoy it…” Haylen said patting Danse on the arm and smiling before walking away. She walked over to Sturges and gave him a hug. It was bizarre to see Haylen so at home with people who weren’t Brotherhood soldiers. Danse decided to stick with Haylen, since he didn’t know anyone here. She introduced him to Sturges, and Danse immediately liked him. He had a southern accent and opened the conversation with asking Danse to help him with hooking up the music and lights to the dance floor. Rhys and Zane were standing around a firepit with a Mr. Handy watching closely as the robot grilled brahmin and radstag steaks. Sturges passed Danse a beer and they chatted idly while working.

The sun dipped lower into the sky and the horizon was an amazing orange-red mix as it started to disappear behind the tree trunks. Danse heard Zane cuss as his beer bottle shattered on the concrete and saw him kick aside the glass and start frantically smoothing his hair. The lancer’s eye was entirely black now from his fight with Rhys earlier, and he was staring down the street. Hailey, Piper and Dogmeat were walking down a path out the back of Sanctuary and Zane looked like he wanted to run screaming after Piper. Danse laughed quietly and shook his head and went back to tinkering with the set of wires he had in front of him.

“Annnnnnd… that should do it.” Danse said and sat back in a chair as the string lights flickered on and the radio started playing.

“Nice job Paladin, I think we’re just about ready.” Sturges said as he kicked up his feet.

“Outstanding.” Danse replied, and tapped his beer bottle with Sturges’.

-0o0-

Hailey stood at the top of the hill with Piper, looking down on Sanctuary from Vault 111. Hailey had sat up here a lot after killing Kellogg. She hadn’t returned to the vault, and didn’t plan on it anytime soon.

“Do they think they’re being sneaky or something? Those Brotherhood soldiers are about the most conspicuous people ever.” Hailey said leaning her head on Piper’s shoulder. Dogmeat was curled at Hailey’s feet, refusing to leave her side.

“Eh, just go along with it and have fun. Act surprised.” Piper said, then laughed. “I know you can’t mask your emotions to change your life, but I know there’s one surprise you won’t be expecting tonight.”

“Wait… what? You must tell me Pipes! Come on.” Hailey begged, but the reporter wouldn’t budge. “By the way, Zane really likes you.” They both laughed.

“Yeah, he’s really enamored with me, but he’s cute so I don’t mind. Brotherhood though? Please.” Piper laughed again.

“Hey! They aren’t all that bad…” Hailey said pushing Piper playfully.

The women stood up and began to make their way down the hill when they saw the lights around the dinner table and what Hailey could only guess to be a dance floor. She smiled at the thought of seeing her friends dance, and her getting to dance with them. It was almost like the war had never happened. Seeing Sanctuary at sunset just when it was dark enough for the lamps to shine, was something to behold. Hailey had changed into casual clothes and out of her Brotherhood uniform. She laughed out loud at Zane’s face and the nervous scrambling he did when he saw Piper with her. Hailey noticed that Danse was staring at her and she gave him a smile. That seemed to snap him out of his blank stare. Preston and Haylen stood by the head of the table, and Preston smiled at Hailey with his arm around Haylen’s shoulders.

“Surprise General.” He said, stepping forward to shake her hand and wrap her in a hug.

“Thank you so much.” She said in his ear as she pulled back from the hug, still grasping onto his hand.

“Don’t thank me, it was your Paladin’s idea.” Preston said looking at Danse. Hailey let go of Preston’s hand and turned to look at Danse.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal Miller, you deserve a little time off after Fort Strong.” Danse said, rubbing the back of his neck. Hailey could see his ears were red. She knew hugging him would result in him bickering about protocol, so she kept her distance.

“Thank you Danse, really. Thank you to all of you who showed up, it’s so good to see everyone again.” Hailey smiled warmly at them all. She had grown close with most of the original people from Concord and had missed them in the time she hadn’t seen them. After she killed Kellogg, she stayed in Sanctuary for about a week then took off all over the Commonwealth, building settlements and clearing out trouble spots for the Minutemen. In the third month, she took back the Castle then went exploring with only Dogmeat for about three weeks until she eventually found herself on the steps of the police station.

She never came back to Sanctuary to visit for the fear of getting stuck in another depression and losing the will to live entirely. So, she kept herself busy by constantly being out on the road and checking in with Preston by radio whenever she had the chance. During that time though, their friendship didn’t fail and she missed talking to him. It felt weird that she came out of the vault almost four months ago and didn’t have anyone in the world, but now she had all these amazing friends who threw a party specifically for her. It brought a familiar burning sensation to her throat, and she cleared her throat.

“Where’s the liquor? Let’s get this party going! Enough of this emotional shit!” Hailey said, and Danse handed her a beer as they all laughed, and Hailey wiped a lone tear off her cheek. They all sat down at the table and took their helpings of the produce grown in the settlement and the brahmin and radstag that Codsworth made. Dogmeat padded over and laid his head in Hailey’s lap and closed his eyes in peace.

They ate and Preston chatted with Hailey and Haylen about a new way to boost the signals of the settlement beacons, so people from outside the general area of the Commonwealth could come into the Commonwealth knowing they had a place they were welcome. Amongst the chatter music worked its way through the air, and eventually as they finished eating people began to dance. Hailey was surprised to see Zane and Piper out on the floor dancing to a slow song. Zane looked like he had rhythm and Piper was red in the face. They both laughed as he dipped her when the song ended.

Preston tapped her on the shoulder. “General, can I have this dance?”

Hailey laughed at his formality. “Of course, _Colonel.”_ She said, winking as he took her hand. King Porter Stomp by Benny Goodman was playing and Preston kept up well. Hailey raised her eye brows in surprise.

“Out of all the things in the wasteland, I never expected people to still dance.” Hailey said as he spun her around.

“Well, it’s timeless, what can I say?” Preston said, grinning, just as he tripped over his own feet. The pair laughed and continued to dance. The song come to a stop and Preston looked over Hailey’s shoulder, his eyes wide.

Hailey felt another tap on her shoulder and as she turned around, she had to stop herself from gasping aloud. There, in front of her, was Elder Maxson. He was red in the face, dressed in his battlecoat, and looked strangely out of place.

“Miller… Hailey. Want to dance?” He said, his ice blue eyes practically glowing. He smiled a bit then added, “This is awkward, I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize Elder. I just didn’t expect you to show up, and yes, I would love to dance.” Hailey said, smiling. She took his hand, and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Just call me Arthur. You really think I’d miss out on this? Why do you think everyone is here?” He smiled, pulling her closer.

“Really? You did this?” Hailey said in disbelief.

“Well, Danse was the brains behind it, but I authorized everyone’s leave, including myself.” He twirled Hailey, bringing her back close.

“Why?” Hailey said before she could stop herself.

“Why do you think?” Arthur said, putting his face by her ear. “You see, Miller, I’ve never really done anything like this. This doesn’t exist in the wasteland anymore. Don’t get me wrong, people still dance, drink, and eat. Men don’t woo women in this world, but I want to stand out and actually try to win your heart over.” He laughed quietly. “Sounds ridiculous when I say it aloud.”

Hailey could feel her cheeks grow red and Arthur pulled his head back to scan her face. He dropped her hand and brought his up to feel the heat in her cheeks. Her hand went automatically to his wrist and confusion crossed his face.

“Are you not okay with this?” He said, his brow furrowing.

“I am, but there is, or more like was another. My husband from before the war. He was killed before I escaped the vault…” Hailey trailed off, squeezing Maxson’s wrist. They swayed with one another long after the song ended. “Can we go somewhere? I’ll tell you about it.” Hailey said, scanning the settlement. “The Red Rocket station to the south is mine, if you want to come with me.”

Arthur ran his thumb along her cheek and nodded silently. Hailey dropped her hands from his shoulder and wrist and turned to walk away. Arthur followed her, taking her hand once they walked across the bridge into the dark.

-0o0-

“Oh, bullshit man, a radscorpion would _totally_ get crushed by a deathclaw. I’ve seen it happen before.” Zane said, taking a long swig of whiskey.

“I don’t know Zane, radscorpions get pretty terrifying if they’re irradiated enough.” Rhys said, tipping his bottle towards Zane.

“I’m going to have to side with Zane in this argument Rhys, sorry.” Danse said, taking a drink of beer, letting the flavor wash around in his mouth.

As Zane and Rhys bickered more, Danse looked out to the crowd on the dance floor. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he saw Preston leading Hailey out onto the floor. A new song kicked in, and off they went. Danse watched them for a while, taken aback by how good of a dancer Preston was. Suddenly, Danse felt a large hand clasp down on his shoulder. Looking up he saw Elder Maxson. Danse stood up and shook the Elder’s hand.

“Elder, you made it.” Danse said, his heart falling just a fraction.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Lancer Zane, pass me that whiskey.” Maxson said, looking over at the pilot slumped down into his chair.

“Whatever you say, oh Elder, my Elder.” Zane nodded and passed Maxson the bottle. Maxson took a long drink and pulled a face after finishing.

“Little strong there Elder?” Danse said, clapping the younger man on the back.

“Yeah, but I need it for what I’m about to do.” Maxson stared out across the floor, and Danse followed suit, realizing he was looking at her. Hailey. Maxson gave the Paladin a nod before strutting out onto the dance floor.

Danse’s stomach dropped realizing Maxon’s reason for approving their shore leave. It was all for her. Danse couldn’t blame him though, Danse organized the party for her. Maxson would get all the credit though. Danse’s chest felt warm with jealousy as he saw Maxson wrap his arm around her waist and pull her close. He managed to make it through the song without showing it, but when he saw them leaving together he couldn’t take it anymore.

Danse grabbed a bottle of vodka and stomped off into the distance out the back path of Sanctuary, headed towards the hill. Dogmeat trailed along behind him, whining occasionally. Danse saw a damaged chain link fence and a small booth come into view. He put his hand protectively on the strap of his rifle and slowed his steps.

As he rounded the corner, he saw the construction equipment and prewar tanks. There was a large circular platform that shone in the moonlight. Danse peered out over the hill at the Red Rocket, then crept closer to the platform. He saw two lawn chairs sitting on the far side of the platform and he approached them. His footsteps echoed loudly as he was stepping across the platform and through the dark he could see chipped yellow paint. He reached the other side and looked back at the rusting metal.

_Vault 111._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully that was the perfect balance of fluff and drama.


	16. Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danse stumbles into Vault 111 and encounters a tragic scene. Blackmail, lies and deceit are ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited for this chapter, and for you people to read it. I apologize for the long wait, some shit has happened in my personal life lately and writing was put on the back burner. 
> 
> Song by Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs.

Danse wasn’t sure what otherworldly force possessed his body as he backed up over the platform to the control pad. He stared at the metal circle in front of him, setting the white vodka bottle on the ground next to his feet. The red button glowed in front of him, curiosity controlling his hand as he reached out and pressed it.

At first nothing happened and Danse let out a small sigh of relief. Just as he reached down to pick back up the bottle, something mechanic below the platform grinded to life and an automated voice came through the control panel.

“ _Vault residents, proceed onto the platform.”_

Danse padded forward onto the Vault 111 painted onto the cold steel. With a jerk, the platform began to lower into the ground, and Sanctuary and the world above began to slide from his view. He looked up as he descended underground and saw two large metal doors slide over where the platform used to be.

The tunnel was completely dark for a split second before Vault 111 came into view. The platform stopped at the bottom and the grate separating Danse from the rest of the vault slid up, freeing him to escape. He stumbled out into the entrance where the vault door was ajar. He stepped over pieces of paper and folders on the ground to the rusted metal stairs.

Danse drew the pistol from his side and stepped cautiously up the stairs onto the platform into the vault. He looked up at the large painting that read, _Welcome home to Vault 111!_ He laughed dryly and continued into the vault. As he came out of the security office, he was face to face with a rectangular window. There were rows and rows of pods and a couple of terminals visible through the old glass. Danse turned from the window, an eerie feeling passing over him.

His hand tightened on his pistol when Danse suddenly heard a loud sound from the entrance of the vault. He darted into the room behind the glass window he was just peering through and crouched down the pistol in his hand. The loud noise stopped, but Danse could hear footsteps now, and voices.

“Look, Hailey… we don’t have to do this if you don-” a familiar voice said.

“No Arthur, I have to. I haven’t been back since I left. You can leave if you want.” A new voice said. Danse’s heart sank into his stomach when he realized that it was Hailey and Maxson. He peeked around the corner and saw Hailey walk past Maxson with her head held high, and her hands clenched into fists. Arthur reached out and caught her hand and pulled him to face her.

“I want to be here for you.” The Elder said, entwining his fingers through hers and kissing the back of her hand gently.

“Okay, then let me do this.” She said, staring at him with a determined look on her face. Maxson reached up and touched her face softly. Danse suddenly felt a wave of jealousy wash over him and he pressed against the wall so they were out of view. He heard Hailey’s light footsteps followed by Maxson’s heavier ones pass by the doorway he was hiding in. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. What felt like a long silence finally ended with sounds of loud sobs.

Danse couldn’t stop himself as he crept out the doorway, following the sounds of distress, only wanting to comfort the woman behind the noises. He knew that she could never see him down here; it was such a blatant disrespect to Hailey and her deceased husband to intrude in on the place where the worst day of her life had happened. Danse reached a large hallway that lead into a single row of pods. He peeked around the corner, his chest aching at the scene before him.

Hailey was on her knees, in front of one of the pods with her hands flat on the floor. She was shaking with sobs that echoed off the wall. Maxson had crouched down next to her and rubbing her back softly. Danse flinched every time Hailey cried out, wanting to step out into the open and swoop her into his arms and let her cry. As Danse looked up from her, his breath hitched in his throat as he made eye contact with Arthur. Arthur slowly smiled, his face twisting into the likeness of a cat who just ate the juiciest canary, and shook his head slowly. Danse was caught. Hailey sobbed loudly, breaking the stare and pulled Maxson back to her. Danse backed away from the door as Maxson looked back down at Hailey and continued to rub her back, his face returning to the soft, concerned expression he had before.

Danse retreated in shame. His footsteps echoed off the walls of the underground shelter as he treaded back to the elevator. He didn’t expect to see Hailey right away and decided it was probably better to just retire for the night.

The cool night air sent shivers down his spine and he made his way back to the foundation where the dance floor was. His power armor stood alone in the darkness and he headed towards it, ignoring the others. Piper and Zane were accompanied by Preston and Haylen on the dance floor. They didn’t seem to notice Danse as his power armor hissed and opened for him. He walked over to one of the empty houses and found a bed that wasn’t occupied. He stood in the corner briefly before popping open his power armor again, preferring it close to him before he settled down for the night.

Danse got into bed and laid there for a moment, his mind replaying the vault over and over again. Danse couldn’t stop seeing the grin that crossed Maxson’s face. Why was he grinning like that when Hailey was so upset? Just as Danse was about to drift off, he could hear someone walk through the house. He knew Sanctuary was safe, but the footsteps grew closer and his stomach gave a weird twinge. They came to a stop at the entrance to the room, and Danse had a feeling he knew who it was.

“Evening, Paladin.” Arthur’s deep voice came from the doorway.

“What are you doing here, Elder?” Danse snapped, opening his eyes to glare at the Elder.

“I could have asked you the same thing about an hour ago. And please, just call me Arthur. I’m here to tell you to back away Hailey. I’m not blind Paladin, I can see how you look at her. If I find out that you’re trying to make a pass on her, or even be really _friends_ with her, I _will_ tell her about the vault. She’ll never be with you, or even talk to you after you broke her trust like that.”

Danse held Maxson’s triumphant gaze, trying to think of something to say. But, as usual, Arthur was one step ahead of him.

“No need to retort, Danse. You’ll only further stick your foot in your mouth. Goodnight, I have quite the walk to the Red Rocket.” Maxson chuckled softly, nodding at Danse before he retreated out of the house.

Danse laid back down, really regretting not grabbing the bottle he left at the top of the hill before going into the vault. His heart hurt at Arthur’s threat, but the Elder was a man of his word and Danse knew he wouldn’t lose any sleep over wrecking their friendship. Danse had talked to Haylen earlier at the police station about his feelings towards Hailey and felt better towards them, and even planned on asking her to dance tonight. That was, of course, before he felt the large hand clasp onto his shoulder and saw the way she looked at Arthur. How could Danse ever compete with the young Elder? He was better than him in every way… Danse rolled over in bed and closed his eyes, trying to force the intrusive thoughts away. His mind still raced with thoughts of Hailey being alone after seeing her in that condition. He eventually drifted off to a restless sleep.

-0o0-

Hailey wiped her eyes in the dim light in the office of the Red Rocket. She never pictured that her visit home to Sanctuary would end up like this. She had gone back to the vault for closure with Nate and to remind herself why she was out in the Commonwealth. She told Arthur everything, including her pre-war history, Shaun, and his kidnapping. She told him about how she was supposed to go to the Memory Den, and that she had ran in the opposite direction. It had been almost four months since she had killed Kellogg, and she just kept running from her problems, refusing to accept the fact that Shaun was out there, alive, and most likely didn’t know who she was. Hailey sat up in bed as she heard Arthur return to the Red Rocket, her mind clearing a bit. He leaned against the door frame and looked at her.

“You okay?” He said quietly.

“Yeah… Thank you for going with me.” She sniffed. She threw her blanket back, exposing the empty space next to her. Arthur began to remove his battle coat, but left his uniform on. “Did you talk to Danse?”

“Yeah, I did. Just wanted to confirm our plan for tomorrow.” He climbed into bed with her and settled in with a relieved groan.

“You’re so business all the time, you need to relax more.” Hailey said as she turned on her side to look at him.

“Hailey… you need to go to the Memory Den.” Arthur said plainly, touching her face. She closed her eyes and sighed, leaning into his touch.

“Yeah, I know. I’m ready now.” She replied. Seeing Nate’s frozen body once again lit a fire in her that had long before went out. Arthur leaned forward and kissed her forehead and wrapped her in his arms. “When we leave tomorrow, I can go. I’m going solo for this Arthur, I need to do this alone. I’ll talk to Paladin Danse tomorrow.”

“It’s fine Hailey, I’ll talk to Danse. We’ll get you a vertibird early in the morning, and you won’t have to explain yourself to anyone before you leave.” Maxson said, running his hand up and down her back lightly.

“Alright, that’d be better. I can already see Danse lecturing me about going alone.” She sighed and moved as close to Maxson as possible. He was radiating heat and the Red Rocket didn’t have the best insulation. Or at least that’s what she was telling herself to feel better about it. They laid in silence, and eventually Maxson’s breathing slowed and he started to snore softly. Hailey matched her breathing with his and she fell asleep not too much longer after him.

-0o0-

Danse awoke in the morning, feeling like shit, and recalled the previous night’s events slowly as he got dressed and walked out into the settlement. Everyone was already up and sitting at the table where they had dinner last night. Danse pulled up a seat next to Zane and Piper.

“Well, good morning sleepyhead.” Zane taunted him to his left and all Danse could do was grunt in response.

“Good morning indeed Mister Danse! Would you like some coffee?” Hailey’s Mister Handy said over his shoulder as it set down a cup next to him on the table. He took it silently and sipped the hot liquid slowly. Seeing the robot made Danse realize that Hailey wasn’t present at the table.

“Hey… Zane, where’s Hailey?” Danse said to the pilot quietly, who only shrugged in response.

“Lancer, Paladin. I must speak with you.” Came an all too familiar voice from behind Danse. The air of men stood up and saluted the Elder, and walked a fair distance away from the table where the others were.

“Knight Miller left this morning to an undisclosed location to complete a mission for a personal matter. She was sent alone, and it will be kept a solo mission. Understood?” The Elder said, his icy blues flashing dangerously, challenging the men to speak up. “I will be leaving immediately, be back on the Prydwen in forty-eight hours.” The Elder turned and proceeded to walk over to Garvey and shake his hand, thanking him for the food and lodging. Zane turned to Danse looking just as confused as Danse felt.

“What the _fuck_ was that all about?” Zane said. “Is he insane? Sending in Hailey _alone?_ She’s going to die out there and it’ll be Captain Dickhead’s fault.”

“Hailey is more than a competent soldier, Zane. That doesn’t stop me from worrying though… I have to tell you something.” Danse exchanged worrisome looks with the red-haired lancer and they strode off to walk around the cul-de-sac. After Danse spilled everything about the previous night, including Maxson’s threat to him, Zane stopped walking and just laughed loudly.

“I knew that little shit was touched in the head. Wow, honestly? I called it, but oh well, no one _listens_ to what I say _, PIPER!”_ He yelled at the reporter, who was taking a sip of coffee from her mug at the table. She waved her hand at him in a passive dismissal which caused Zane to gasp with mock offense. Danse chuckled and clapped the lancer on the back.

“Really, Zane, thank you for listening to me and trusting me.” Danse said and Zane shook his hand.

“Hey what are brothers for? Now, let’s go find Hailey.” Zane picked up speed in his usually casual stride, arms swinging a little obnoxiously, and walked over to Piper. “Hey Pip, let’s go, we need to find Hailey. Do you know where she was going?”

“Well, I have a suspicion, and you guys aren’t going to like it. We need to go by my place in Diamond City first.” Piper stood up and purposefully ran her hand through Zane’s hair, messing up the lay of it and disappeared into a house down the street.

“Great, now I have to redo this shit. Gimme a sec.” Zane jogged after Piper, disappearing into the same house.

Danse turned from the table, taking his cup of coffee with him and went back to where he bedded down for the night to collect all his belongings and step into his power armor. He clunked over to the table where Preston was helping Haylen clean up the food and dishes from the settlement breakfast.

“Colonel Garvey, Scribe Haylen.” Danse nodded at the pair. “Thank you again for helping us with this. It meant a lot to Hailey.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Paladin, it meant a lot to all of us, too. It’s the least we could do after she’s done so much for us. Giving her one night of relaxation doesn’t even begin to cover it.” Preston said, looking up at Danse. Zane and Piper walked up behind Haylen and Danse nodded to them.

“Well, regardless, thank you again, for the food, place to stay, and for the help organizing this thing.” Danse said and saluted the scribe and colonel.

“Anytime, Sanctuary always has a bed for you guys. We’ll see you soon.” Preston returned the salute as best as he could. Haylen saluted and nodded at Danse. Since their talk yesterday, there was a deeper understanding hidden in her eyes when she looked at him and he nodded back, confirming her nonverbal thoughts.

The trio walked down the main road of Sanctuary, and spotted a very sleepy-eyed Rhys, who simply waved to them and kept walking in pursuit of coffee. Zane pulled out a vertibird call grenade outside of Red Rocket and they all climbed aboard. Zane and Danse hit the ceiling at the same time and Zane cast a toothy grin at Danse as they took off and Piper glued herself to Zane’s arm.

They landed just outside of Diamond City and strolled through the morning sunlight into the old stadium. Danse cast his glance to where he had sat with Hailey in the stands, and replayed the scene in his head. He could almost feel her hand around his again and it caused him to smile slightly.

“Reminiscing about your last trip here, Paladin?” Piper said with an all too knowing tone. Danse could feel the back of his neck burn and figured it was as red as it felt. Piper laughed slightly. “I want to talk with you guys somewhere private really fast… my office should work.”

They walked into Piper’s office/home, and Danse looked around. Papers were everywhere; some had sloppy handwriting scrawled over them, and eventually Danse’s eyes found a cork board with Hailey’s name on it. Her name was connected to a Nate and Shaun card. The Shaun card was connected to a Kellogg card, which lead to a question mark.

“Ahh, admiring my detective work, Danse?” Piper chirped from behind him, spooking him slightly. She ignored it and continued. “Then you’re going to love what I’m going to say next. I’m just gonna say it fast, try to control yourself. As you both know, Hailey’s son is missing, there’s only one true detective in town around here, and his name is Nick Valentine. Hailey rescued him in exchange for his help finding her son. They killed the guy who took him and the next step is finding out who this guy worked for. Now they pulled a piece of tech out of this guy’s brain-”

“A piece of tech? Out of a human? That’s not a good sign.” Danse cut her off mid-sentence and she glared at him. He waved his hand in apology and she continued.

“Anyways, there’s only one place to go when something like this happens. Goodneighbor. If you know anything about Goodneighbor, it’s that they’re not a fan of the Brotherhood. With half the population ghouls and the other half your usual law breakers, they aren’t a big fan of authority.” She said casting a look at the men.

“Sounds like my kind of place.” Zane said, lighting a cigarette lazily.

“So, you guys can’t wear your uniforms in, lest we stick out like sore thumbs… also Nick Valentine is a synth.” She said the last part quietly and fast as if she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“ _What?_ Knight Miller enlisted the help of an _enemy?_ Just when I thought that woman couldn’t get any more ridiculous!” Danse said, anger flowing freely and carelessly through him. Piper held up her hand which stopped him, and caused Danse to take deep breaths, accepting the information just given to him.

“Now, Paladin. I know that you’re bred to hate synths, ghouls, and, well, anything that isn’t human. Trust me, I’m not a fan of synths either, but Nicky is different. He’s an earlier prototype, and he has the conscious of a pre-war detective. One of the first synths to have personality and The Institute discarded him. He has no recollection of them, where they are or anything of the sort. You _know_ I gather all my facts before I would distribute this information.” She glared at him. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want. Just put up with it, don’t be rude and don’t kill him. That’s all I ask.” The Paladin and the Reporter looked at each other for a moment before suddenly, Zane clapped his hands loudly together, which made them all jump.

“Alright, I’m sold. Synths? Deception? _Violence?_ Let’s do this.” He stood up, taking one last drag of his cigarette then putting it out in a worn, yellow ashtray on the table. He looked at Danse and smiled, “But first - Let’s go shopping!” He rolled his eyes as soon as he said the statement, the mock excitement in his voice ever present.

“I need to go talk to Nick’s secretary, so I’ll meet you at the noodle stand after.” Piper said and Zane grabbed her face with both of his hands and gave her a quick, noisy kiss. Danse raised an eyebrow at the pair and they both turned red.

-0o0-

Danse and Zane sat down in their new street clothes, which were just jeans and a flannel for both, Zane sported a newsboy cap explaining that he _might_ have gotten “black-out drunk” while in Goodneighbor before. Piper sat down next to them and stared at them with a serious look on her face.

“Nick is already there with her. He’s going to try and stall until we get there, so finish your noodles and let’s get going. We have a long jog ahead of us.” She absentmindedly played with Zane’s shirt collar as she spoke.

Danse and Zane began to hastily eat their noodles. Danse’s body was on autopilot as he thought of Hailey. He shifted uncomfortably, thinking about telling her of the vault. He needed to do it, to explain to her what Maxson had done. He was scared she wouldn’t believe him though, and it would drive her further into Maxson’s ever awaiting arms. He pushed his bowl away from him, which Takahashi grabbed from the counter. Danse stood up and stretched, his knee popping painfully. He carefully massaged it as Zane and Piper pulled on their rucksacks.

They started at a fast walk, which then lead to a jog. Just a usual walk to Goodneighbor could take anywhere from two to three hours, and they didn’t have that time. Knowing Hailey, she’d already strong armed the synth into doing her bidding. Danse admired that about her, she was tenacious and knew what she wanted and just how to get it. She had a way with words that he’d never seen before. He watched Maxson negotiate and Cutler talk his way out of trouble, but there was something different about how she used her charisma to charm the unwilling.

They passed Boston Common and Danse looked at the long, worn red line on the ground; the Freedom Trail. In pre-war Boston, it was a common tourist attraction that explained the founding fathers’ path to revolution using real life locations throughout Boston as markers. Now, two hundred and twenty years later, it was used as nothing more than decoration on the sidewalk. The trio gunned down ghouls and super mutants before Danse saw a large neon sign appear that said GOODNEIGHBOR in mismatched letters. There was a simple red door that shielded the community from Boston’s harsh ruins. Danse, Piper, and Zane stopped outside of the door to slow their breathing, and talk strategy.

“If…anyone rec-recognizes you… we leave.” Piper said as she wheezed. Zane laughed and poked her in the side.

“Why you breathing so hard? That’s like a warm up jog for Brotherhood members!” Zane lit up a cigarette and coughed as she punched him in the stomach.

“ _Shhhh!_ Don’t say that… around here…” Piper hissed while catching her breath, straightening up and wiping the sweat from her forehead. She coughed once, and looked at Danse who simply nodded.

“Shall we?” He said, taking a step towards the door. Piper and Zane nodded, and Zane pulled his hat down over his face.

Danse stepped through the door first and wasn’t necessarily shocked by what he saw. There was a man laying no less than twenty feet from the door, in a puddle of his own blood. There was a ghoul standing above him dressed in a ridiculous red overcoat and a tricorn hat. The ghoul met Danse’s eyes and Danse looked away. The ghoul scanned the rest of their party and laughed loudly.

“Piper! The good ole Diamond City reporter trying to oust the scum from that hellhole! What brings you to my neck of the woods? Any good dirt for Hancock?” He winked at Piper and smiled.

“Actually, here looking for a friend. Young woman, just past shoulder length light brown hair?” The reporter replied, stepping forward to shake Hancock’s hand. Danse cringed as her hand touched the ghoul’s.

“Ahh, you missed her arrival by about twenty minutes. Good ole man here tried to make her pay for insurance.” He spat on the body lying on the ground. “She’s a real looker by the way, anyway you can drop a word in for me?” He laughed again. Danse bristled with anger, the thought of Hailey even speaking to the ghoul flared up his jealousy, he groaned slightly as Piper stepped back onto his foot, crushing his toes, she tossed him a dirty look.

“Trust me, you don’t want to get in between her and her current beau.” Piper chuckled, looking back at Hancock.

“Well she headed towards the Memory Den with a certain robotic detective. Probably going to talk to Amari.” Hancock waved at them as they strode past him. Danse could feel his anxiety creeping in as he thought of the synth. He didn’t want to upset Hailey anymore, but her betrayal and blatant disregard for Brotherhood policies was just too much for him. It drove him crazy and she knew it.

They came up on a large building that had a flickering sign on the front. As they walked through the front doors, Danse had to suppress a cough, and his eyes immediately started to water. The building was beautiful, but clouded with smoke. There was a woman lounging on a chaise at the end of the room who gave Piper a nod as they went downstairs. They could hear talking as they stepped onto the last flight of stairs into the basement. At the end of the stairs, a bright fluorescent light shone into the hallway from a single doorway. Danse lead the troop into the room and the first thing he saw was her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we start to see the tension between Danse/Hailey and definitely the Danse/Maxson rivalry. Who are you rooting for? Also I started a Tumblr for Fallout/Writing shit. Follow it for sneak previews of chapters and other things, thebowlcut. Anyways, let me know your thoughts as usual.


	17. I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danse, Piper and Zane arrive at the Memory Den. Stuff happens, just read the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to the beta reader lobitoglobo. 
> 
> Also thanks to all the readers, I hit 1k on my hiatus from writing. I've also came clean with everyone on my Facebook and told them about this, so if you know me personally and are still reading, congrats, you've made it this far.

Hailey turned as the sudden intrusion and disbelief crossed her face, then panic as she stepped in front of a figure in a wooden chair. She held herself as high as she possibly could, and Danse still dwarfed her. Over her shoulder he could see a battered fedora look in his direction.

“Hang on Doll, I got this.” Called out a raspy voice. The fedora rose and Danse met the synth eye to mechanical eye. His hand jumped to his gun and he pointed the rifle straight at the synth’s head.

“Hailey, give me one good reason as to why I shouldn’t shoot this abomination.” He heard himself say.

“I’ll shoot you myself, Danse.” Hailey replied in a low voice. He shifted his eyes back to her and saw she had raised her 10mm and was pointing it at him.

“You’d shoot me? For this… _machine?_ ” He said to her, relaxing his grip on the rifle in disbelief.

“This _‘machine’_ , as you so kindly put it, helped me track down and kill the bastard who took my son and husband from me. He’s done more for me than anyone in this godforsaken wasteland, and I won’t let some hothead like you kill him.” She retorted, flexing her fingers on the grip of the pistol. “Now, lower your gun, Danse. I’m serious.”

“Hailey…” He started and she tensed up, taking aim at his head. Danse lowered his gun and huffed. “Alright… but if it shows any signs of hostility I will not hesitate to put it down.”

“Now that we’ve got that sorted out, can I continue my work?” A woman’s heavily accented voice said suddenly from within the room.

“Of course, Dr. Amari, ignore my guests here.” Hailey said, lowering her gun after Danse put his away. Danse walked over to a couch on the right side of the room and threw himself down on it. It creaked under his weight and gave slightly in the middle. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes. He could hear them all talking, but he couldn’t process what they were saying. When he pulled his hands away from his eyes, Hailey was climbing into the memory lounger, next to the synth who was already in one. Zane and Piper sat down next to him and Dr. Amari wheeled a TV towards them.

“This TV will show whatever she is seeing. I’ll be able to communicate with her while she’s walking through the memories.” Dr. Amari walked over to the memory lounger as the TV flickered to life. It showed a young boy in bed with an older woman with him. Memory after memory played through. Kellogg’s entire life played out before their eyes. His childhood, his upbringing, the start of his early married life, the end of it, then when he joined the Institute’s payroll.

“Hailey… what’s wrong? Your vitals are spiking… try to breathe deeply and get through this memory.” Dr. Amari’s voice cut through the trance of the TV. Danse leaned to look around the screen and could see Hailey flinching in the memory lounger. His eyes were drawn back to the screen when Piper gasped. He immediately recognized the scene. He had been there just last night. Zane was stroking the back of Piper’s hand with his thumb and staring slack jawed at the TV in front of them. Danse could see her moving in her pod as Kellogg opened Nate’s pod. The blond-haired man started to struggle and Kellogg didn’t hesitate when he put a bullet in Nate’s head. The baby, Hailey’s son, was pulled from his slack arms and taken away by a figure in a white hazmat suit while Kellogg strolled over to Hailey’s pod to sneer at her.

Hailey’s vitals returned to normal after a short pause in the memory as she made her way to the next one. The room came into view and Piper muttered under her breath, “ _Diamond City.”_ Danse saw Kellogg in a chair at a desk looking at a young boy playing on the floor. The boy was playing with comics and chattering to an uninterested Kellogg. There was suddenly a bright blue flash as a man in a black trench coat appeared in the room. The man spoke to Kellogg about bringing the boy back to the institute then teleported out with the boy.

“Hailey, I think we’ve found our answer. Whenever you’re ready.” Dr. Amari said softly. The TV screen flickered and went black. The memory lounger opened slowly and Hailey sat up in it. Piper let go of Zane’s hand and walked over to help her out. “Be careful, standing could be quite disorienting.” Amari chimed in, almost as an afterthought.

Hailey wobbled slightly but clung to Piper and buried her head in Piper’s neck. Hailey’s body shook with gentle sobs and Danse longed to reach out to comfort her, but remembered Maxson’s threat and thought better of it. Piper rubbed her back and handed her a very worn handkerchief. As Hailey was crying, Dr. Amari began to unhook the synth. His yellow eyes flickered back to life and he stood up, nodded at Danse and Zane and made his way out of the room and up the stairs. Danse stood when the synth exited the room, and watched him leave. When he turned his head back to Hailey and Piper, he was shocked to see Hailey walking towards him, tears running down her face.

She wrapped her arms around his midsection and started to shake with small sobs again. For a second, Danse hesitated, unsure of what to do with himself. He thought of Maxson but those thoughts were pushed from his mind entirely as Hailey’s tears leaked through his jumpsuit. He returned the hug and pulled her to him as close as possible. She tightened her small arms around him as one of his large hands stroked through her hair. Danse tried to memorize everything about this moment, he knew it would be a short lived one. It was only a matter of time before Maxson knew and told Hailey about the vault. She pulled away from his chest to look up at him and she had never looked more beautiful to him.

Even though her eyes were red and puffy, her looks were breathtaking. Danse took his thumb and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and she gave him a small smile. He could see something flash through her eyes… confusion? Realization? Whatever it was, it caused her to unwrap her arms from him and step away. Danse turned red and stepped back from her as she turned to Zane and raised her forearm to bump against his, creating an ‘x’ for a moment. She lowered her arm and turned.

“Where’s Nick?” Hailey said, clearing her throat and looking around.

“He said he’d wait for you at the entrance upstairs. Please, don’t hesitate to reach out about any side effects. Something of this nature has never been performed before. It paid off well though, now we know the Institute uses teleportation, which also tells us that no one has found the Institute’s entrance because there is none.” Dr. Amari explained.

“Also, we should try to find the escaped scientist… Virgil? They said the trail went dead at the glowing sea. What is the glowing sea exactly?” Hailey turned to Danse with a small frown on her face.

“A highly irradiated area, full of dangerous, unknown obstacles. Also, home to a cult that worships radiation called The Children of Atom.” Danse said simply. He could see a slow smile creep across her face.

“Danger? Cults? Radiation? Sounds like my kinda place.” She replied and Zane laughed.

“She’s got a point you know. It’s my favorite getaway, personally.” Zane chimed in and high fived Hailey. Danse fought the urge to roll his eyes at the pair.

“Well, I suppose we should return to the mothership.” Hailey laughed. “I have a vertibird grenade ready. We’ll walk out a little from the city before we call them in.”

-0o0-

Hailey stood in front of Maxson’s door to his quarters. She stared at it for a moment before knocking quietly. She could hear a grunt of acknowledgement from behind the steel and she took it as a sign to walk in.

“Oh, Hailey. I wasn’t aware that you were back, I would have met you outside.” Arthur said standing up to walk over to her. He stopped just in front of her, reaching out to grab her hands softly in his. He pressed them to his lips and said quietly, “How was it?”

“Arthur… my son… he’s grown. Not completely, but still… he looks like he’s about ten now.” Hailey said, her arms limp.

“So, he’s not an infant anymore? How much time has passed?” He inquired.

“I have no idea. After Nate was killed and I went back into cryo, who knows how long passed? Who knows how long ago that memory was, who knows if he’s even still alive?” Hailey’s voice cracked at the end of the sentence and Arthur pulled her in his warm embrace, stroking her hair.

“Hey… he’s still out there. You know this, don’t give up.” He whispered in her ear.

“I think I know how to find him.” Hailey said, her words muffled against his chest.

“Like, find Shaun? That means finding the Institute…” Arthur muttered into her hair and pulled her away from him with both hands firmly on her shoulders. He looked her directly in the eyes, his ice blues on fire. “We can find him and the Institute… sit down, I need to hear everything you learned.”

Hailey took a seat next to him at the table and he pulled out a pad and pen and stared at her intently. She began to tell Arthur every detail from The Memory Den, including Nick Valentine being a synth, which cause him to inhale deeply. He kept writing through though, his elegant cursive filling the page rapidly. When she explained to him the teleportation his brow furrowed for a moment before a look of realization crossed his face.

“That explains a lot… The strange energy bursts. So, Virgil, the missing doctor…” He trailed off, rifling through his notes.

“…Is most likely in the Glowing Sea.” Hailey completed Arthur’s thought for him. “Danse mentioned what’s out there. Honestly, I’m okay with going. I’m not scared.”

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable for you to go. I just want Danse and possibly Lancer Zane with you, for protection… if you were to go down out there, vertibirds can’t reach you.” Maxson reached out and squeezed her hand gently. “I just want to see you come back.”

“I’ll always come back… they can’t get rid of me that easily.” Hailey said with a smile. “Shall we have a celebratory drink?” She said standing and walking over to the small table full of assorted liquor.

“That sounds amazing… work can always wait until tomorrow morning. It’s pretty late anyways. Can I, uh, trust you to walk back to your bunk inebriated?” Maxson said, stepping up behind her and pushing her hair over her shoulder. He kissed the back of her neck softly, and she turned to face him.

“Well, I was thinking maybe I could stay here tonight? You know how much of a light weight I am.” Hailey replied, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders.

“Oh yes I do. I promise to take care of you though.” He said, bending his head down to kiss her softly. She pulled away and Arthur looked at her confused.

“So… I should probably pour those drinks, before you distract me any further.” She said withdrawing her arms from him.

“Yes, _knight,_ I suppose you should.” Arthur said taking a seat on the plush red couch in the corner. “Make it a double for me.” He said grinning.

-0o0-

Danse sat up straight in bed in a cold sweat, panting heavily. He had dreamt of Cutler again, same as every night. He never slept for more than two hours at a time, and would never sleep out in the field, always opting to take watches and patrols. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, putting his elbows on his knees, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The ship was silent, and his room was pitch black. He sighed listening to the ship creak and groan. He could hear someone in power armor clunk by his door and up the ladder.

Silence fell over the room and only the sound of Danse’s breathing could be heard. Then a quiet noise came through the walls. A laugh; a giggle. Danse stood up out of bed and walked over the wall he shared with Maxson and listened, holding his breath. It was a woman, and she shrieked then started giggling again. Danse could hear Maxson’s low laugh almost vibrating the walls. He stepped back from the wall, pulling on sweatpants and a shirt. Danse already knew who the woman was, and could listen no longer. He left his room walking towards the power armor bay, because at 0300 hours in the morning, there were two people that were guaranteed to be awake. Ingram and Zane were leaned against some workbenches in the bay. They both had cups of coffee by them and were deep in quiet conversation.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my favorite Paladin. What brings you to the bay this late at night?” Zane inquired as Danse stomped up to the pair.

“Can’t sleep.” Danse said curtly.

“Ahh… is she with Maxson? I didn’t see her upstairs.” Zane said quietly, staring at Danse over the rim of his cup. Danse answered his question with a sad, slow nod.

“We were just talking about that actually… really ridiculous.” Ingram said. “You obviously like her.” Danse could feel his ears and neck turn red and he dodged eye contact with Ingram.

“Wow, you really got it bad man. You can’t even give a basic hard ass answer that you usually give.” Ingram said, staring down at him from her power armor. Danse grunted in response, taking a drink from the mug of coffee he grabbed at the mess hall.

“Really interesting conversation Paladin. Glad you contributed.” Zane remarked. “Anyways, as I was saying before. She’s got her head so far underground I’m surprised she hasn’t hit lava yet. We all know Maxson is a little crazy, _at the least._ Who knows what he’s actually like?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen him freak out on a couple of people before. Danse had to pull him off the poor kid.” Ingram said, shaking her head and taking a swig of coffee. “Ugh, god this shit is trash.” She looked into the cup swirling it around.

“I can’t say anything because it’ll only further drive her to him. She’s such a pain in the ass sometimes.” Danse said, running one of his hands through his hair.

“Speaking of pain in the ass, I have the schematics for your power armor. The Glowing Sea is so highly irradiated that it’s not safe to just have the normal amount of lead coating, once you take in the factors of you wandering around out there, not knowing what you’re looking for and who knows what you’ll have to fight out there.” Ingram said roughly, grabbing a paper that had her untidy scrawl all over it and handing it to Danse. Danse glanced over it, and walked over to bay three and set it down on the work bench.

“Oh man, I think it’s time for me to retire. It’s too early for this shit, and I’m not about to get roped into helping you Paladin. Good night… forever.” Zane sneered and then laughed, patting Danse on the shoulder as he walked by him to jog up the stairs.

“Yeah, it’s that time for me too, see you later Danse.” Ingram set her coffee down on the counter and trudged past Danse. He could hear her room door shut and the ship fell silent once again, with the occasional creak and groan. He sighed and sat down in a chair by bay three’s workbench and grabbed Ingram’s schematics again, reading over the information slower this time, trying to take his mind off Hailey. He took a sip of his lukewarm coffee and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes. Danse listened to the sound of his breathing for what felt like hours, his mind blank. He heard someone crash into something on the other side of the bay and heard them mutter, “ _Fuck”_ underneath their breath.

Danse opened his eyes and saw bare legs and feet through the shelving in the middle of the armor bay. He could see a delicate hand rubbing the front of one of the legs, a red mark appearing on the pale skin. He already knew who it was before she walked around the shelves and her hazel eyes met his. She stopped and looked at him her eyes scanning his face rapidly, like she’d been caught doing something and was waiting for his reprimand.

“Knight Miller. You’re up late.” Danse said stiffly, looking her up and down in her oversize shirt and green shorts.

“Uh…I could say the same for you Paladin.” She said crossing her arms and squinting at Danse. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at the common deflection tactic.

“You should return to your bunk and try to get some rest, people have been noticing you aren’t there a lot. There’s been questions.” Danse said, fighting the urge to turn red at his own boldness.

“Well they can ask me those questions directly to my face, and I can tell them to fuck off and that it’s none of their business. It’s none of your business either Danse, last time I checked, I wasn’t required to sleep in my bunk but I’ll make sure to run it by you every time I’m not.” She said, raising herself higher in defiance, raising her voice with it.

“It’s Paladin Danse, _knight_.” He spat Hailey’s rank at her. Danse knew it was too late to stop now, so he just trudged on. “Guarantee I’ll be awake when you come knocking, I have a hard-enough time sleeping as is without…” He stopped himself as he saw Hailey’s face turn red.

“It is _none_ of your business as to what Arthur and I do behind closed doors, nor will it ever be!” She hissed at him. He recoiled slightly before he remembered to stand his ground.

“Well you chose the wrong person to be involved with then, that’s not just any one you’re with Knight Miller. That’s _the leader of the Brotherhood._ You can’t be so ignorant to think that people wouldn’t notice… that I wouldn’t notice.” Danse saw her eyes widen and he turned from her and stomped back towards his quarters before she could say anything else.

He slammed his door and pressed his forehead to the back of it. How could she be so stupid? How could _he_ be so stupid as to think he actually had a chance with her? He sighed roughly and hit the back of his door in frustration. He jumped and spun around to face the last person he wanted to see.

“What did I tell you Danse? Stay back from her.” Arthur said in a low voice, crossing his arms.

“How am I supposed to do that when I’m her C.O.?” Danse inquired back, thoughts of throwing Maxson out of his room crossed his mind.

“That’s not my problem.” Arthur stood suddenly and stepped towards Danse. The men stood less than a foot and a half away from each other, both well over six feet tall. They looked eye to eye, chocolate into ice. “Just figure it out, or I’ll find her a new C.O…” Maxson said haughtily as he broke eye contact and strode past Danse to the door, bumping shoulders with him on the way out. “Sleep well, old friend.”

Danse slumped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling once again. He needed to tell Hailey about the vault, Maxson shouldn’t have this type of hold on him. The twenty-one-year-old had too much power for his age and it was beginning to drive him mad. This Arthur was not the Arthur that Danse watched grow at the Citadel, but then again, Danse had never given him the chance to show this side. As young as Arthur was thrown into the mix, Danse couldn’t really be surprised by how he had a dark side. Going through all his life being put on a pedestal, raised for leading the Brotherhood lead Maxson to be poisoned by selfishness and greed. If he didn’t get want he wanted, he was ruthless until he forced people to give it to him.

Danse looked forward into the darkness looking back on his fight with Hailey. Maybe it had been for the best so she wouldn’t be so buddy-buddy with him and Maxson can get off his back until Danse chose to tell Hailey about the vault. The guilt in the past twenty-four hours had nearly been enough, he couldn’t imagine how heavy it’d be a week from now. Danse had kept secrets before, but never one like this. Hailey was blind to Arthur’s ways, and the longer he waited, the worse it would be. He was still her C.O., and she was his responsibility in the field.

He thought of the Glowing Sea; an endless landscape of irradiated hell. Danse himself didn’t feel prepared. As adept as a fighter Hailey was, he _knew_ she wasn’t prepared. Danse had the remedy for this as well. Before big scouting missions, Cutler and Danse would train for weeks on end, using the terrain and scrap at and around the Citadel as obstacles. The airport had open space and enough scrap to train Hailey like he had trained Cutler only over a year ago. He began to map out exercises in his brain and closed his eyes. As he reached the fourth or fifth set of mental exercises he drifted off into a sleep wracked with green mist and the feeling of suffocation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you.   
> I now have a Tumblr specifically for writing, I post sneak peeks, and would be down to answer any questions you may have on there. URL is: thebowlcut   
> Find me. Ask me things.   
> Next chapter should be up soon, I'm going to try to always be a chapter ahead, it's finished and is being edited as I type this, but I want to wait to drop it until chapter 19 is done and I'm like three paragraphs into that so... glhf.


	18. Something's Gotta Give

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I honestly wrote this so long ago, I can't really even give a summary. Glowing Sea prep?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by The McGuire Sisters.

Hailey felt the bed shift next to her and she rolled over and came directly nose to chest with Arthur. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. Her pale skin stood almost a stark white compared to his tanned skin, goosebumps appeared over her arms at the sudden heat of him against her. He buried his face in her hair and kissed the bare skin of her shoulder.

“Good morning, Knight Miller.” He said warmly into the crook of her neck.

“Good morning yourself, Elder.” She said sleepily, as she yawned.

“It’s almost six thirty, I’d get up if I were you…” Arthur muttered, running a hand through her hair.

“Well, if you insist.” She tried to get up and scoot away from him towards the edge of the bed and his hands grabbed her waist and pulled her back to him. “Well can’t say I didn’t try.” She said before planting a soft kiss on his lips. Arthur sighed quietly and dipped his head down to steal another kiss as his hands caressed the soft skin of her back.

-0o0-

By the time Hailey made it down to the mess hall for breakfast it was 0730 hours and she was more tired than before. She caught Zane’s eye as he sat at a table and he waggled his eyebrows at her and started to laugh. She made a sharp turn and avoided eye contact as she made her way to the line for chow. When she had a tray full of something that resembled breakfast food, she walked slowly over to the table and took a chair that wasn’t occupied by Zane’s feet.

“So… late night last night?” Zane said giving her the big eye over the edge of his mug of coffee.

“Do I look that obvious?” Hailey replied grumpily sticking her fork into the mass of food on her plate.

“Well you have to know that it wouldn’t be a secret… Especially when you stay overnight in there.” Zane said quietly. Hailey slapped her fork down onto the table causing Zane to jump and spill some of his coffee onto his uniform. After he had cussed her out and patted himself as dry as possible, she leaned forward and glared at him.

“I am a grown woman, who I spend my nights with is my business, and my business _only_. You should spread that around because the next person that says something to me is getting decked in the face, no matter what rank they are.” She snipped at him.

“Next person? I’m going to guess your overzealous sponsor might have put a bug in your ear last night?” Zane said slyly.

“How do you know that?” Hailey retorted, confirming his thought.

“Word travels fast…” Zane paused then laughed at the look on Hailey’s face. “Nah, I saw him earlier, and Ingram and I talked to him last night.” Hailey opened her mouth, looking to interject and bombard him with questions but he held up a large hand, silencing her. “I am bound by steel and late-night coffee… also known as, can’t tell you, top secret shit.” He stood up quickly, saluted her even quicker and disappeared into the crowd. Hailey leaned back in the chair she was in, kicking the two front legs off the ground and staring at the ceiling thinking about how much alcohol she’d have to feed into Zane to get him to spill his secrets.

Her chair legs slammed onto the floor suddenly when two hands grasped both her shoulders and pushed them down. A beard tickled the side of her face and breath was warm on her ear.

“Knight Miller, you’re going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that.” Arthur said quietly in her ear as he moved to sit down across from her.

“What are you doing?” She asked him, looking around darkly at all the curious eyes peering in her direction.

“Well, everyone knows… so might as well just own up to it.” He said, attentively reaching his hand across the table, capturing her small one in his before she could think about pulling away. “It’ll be fine, if anyone says anything they’ll have me to answer to.” He looked around the mess hall and everyone’s eyes magically found their own plates again. Hailey left out a small puff of relief once she saw everyone begin to mind their own business again. Maxson stroked the back of her hand and ate his breakfast quietly. A large figure appeared in Hailey’s peripherals and they cleared their throat loudly.

“Elder, can I borrow Knight Miller? We have some training to do for the next mission.” Danse’s rough morning voice came through the air, and it reminded her of the tone he had when they first met.

“Certainly.” Maxson said standing up to dismiss himself, squeezing Hailey’s hand then making his way towards the upper deck. Hailey glared up at Danse, still bristling with anger from last night. He turned away from her and began to follow Maxson. They made their way in silence to a vertibird and climbed inside. Even though they were only flying down to the airport, both Hailey and Danse still hit the top of the ‘bird and she could see Danse fighting the urge to smirk and found herself doing the same.

They strolled out of the airport into the crisp morning air, and Hailey began to drag her eyes across what once was barren landscape. Danse went on a long rant, explaining how he used to train at the Citadel and how he painstakingly gathered these cones and tires to make Hailey and him an obstacle course for endurance training.

“Whatever lies out in the Glowing Sea doesn’t care about your son, your mission, or anything you care about. There is only survival out there, it’s either you or them and I’m going to make damn sure that it’s not us. You’re going to train harder than you ever have and longer than you ever had.” Danse barked at her. “Now follow me, we’ll go slower the first time through the course then you’ll be running it solo.”

“What about you? Don’t you have to train Paladin?” Hailey inquired.

“I trained all night last night setting this up, we won’t be training at the same time anyways. This is going to be your instruction time until I can trust you to do it yourself without slacking.” Danse said, glaring down at her. “Now, let’s go knight.”

They took off at a run, and Hailey quickly became aware of how fit Danse was. He was ahead of her and didn’t show any discomfort or a hint of sweat. Hailey on the other hand, was wheezing halfway through the track. She didn’t know how Danse expected her to run it faster than they were currently. She began to slow and Danse cast a look back over his shoulder.

“Keep it up Knight, or I’m adding on an extra lap to the five you’re going to do alone!” He yelled as he disappeared into the rubble of an airplane. Hailey exhaled roughly, pushing herself forward, each foot fall echoing throughout her body. She caught up to Danse just in time to dash through a set of tires that were laid out on the ground. Her calves burned, and her throat now felt like fire every time she inhaled the cold, crisp air she usually loved so much.

“That’s one, four more knight! Pick up the pace!” Danse yelled at her as he moved to the middle of the track so he could yell at her from all directions. “Those deathclaws are going to be moving a lot faster than you are right now!”

Hailey fought the urge to roll her eyes as she ran as fast as she could through the course. By her fifth and final pass through, she had slowed down considerably and was drenched in sweat, her stray hairs sticking to her wet forehead. She stopped by Danse with her hands on her knees and began to cough violently.

“Raise your arms above your head knight, and take deep even breaths.” Danse said besides her. After Hailey’s breathing began to return to a normal rate, Danse piped up again, “Alright, twenty-five sit ups and twenty-five pushups. Let’s see it.”

Hailey laid on her back and wiped the sweat out of her eyes, as Danse placed his large hands on her boots to make sure she couldn’t use any momentum to help herself. Hailey wasn’t unfit by any means, she was more fit than when she came out of the vault. The wasteland slimmed her up to her pre-pregnancy body, then added some muscles. That was just from heavy lifting and long walks though. Hailey never had much endurance and never did much cardio to improve upon it. Mentally cussing herself as five sit ups in began to shorten her breath again, she struggled against Danse’s hands on her feet.

“ _Pathetic. You’re going to die out there.”_ Danse said under his breath as she kept pumping away. She was too exhausted to respond and instead cast him an angry look as fire ran through her veins, driving her forward. She sat up onto her knees as Danse told her to start her push-ups. He kneeled in front of her, placing his fist vertical on the ground perpendicular to her shoulder.

“Go down until your shoulder touches my hand, keep your body as straight as possible. Go.” Danse commanded, and Hailey began to pump away. By ten of the push-ups her arms felt like noodles. She finished the twenty-five out of pure spite and after she finished, she rolled onto her back panting heavily. Danse threw a towel down on the ground next to her and she dried her face and neck on it.

“This is going to be an everyday thing, and we’ll be meeting in the afternoons for target practice. Be back here at 1500 hours sharp, and we’ll be training with weapons for two hours. The Glowing Sea is going to be the hardest mission we’ve done yet, and we won’t leave until I’m confident I can bring you back.” Danse said loudly, taking long strides back into the airport leaving Hailey on the ground.

Hailey laid on the ground, her body slowing freezing up. She sat up quickly and began to stretch so she could move later. If today was this hard, she couldn’t imagine how hard the other days would be. She straightened her leg and leaned forward to grab her toe, feeling the satisfying pull of the muscles in her leg. She looked out across the water, thinking of the Castle and what Preston was up to right now. He was probably in Sanctuary or on his way back to the Castle.

Hailey let go of her foot to cover her eyes, as she was being blinded by a piece of glass reflecting in the sun. As her vision recovered she could see a long white arm holding a pair of aviators, and then she was blinded again as the hand flexed the glasses back to reflecting the sun into her eyes.

She stood up shakily, her body still recovering from the intensive training, and walked towards the sunglasses. There were only two people it could be… Hailey walked around the back side of the airport and bumped straight into a tall man in a white tee shirt with jeans on.

“Well hey there Charmer… long time no see.” The man said, adjusting the black pompadour wig on his head.

“Deacon, what the hell are you doing here?” Hailey hissed looking around franticly for guards.

“Chill down, I know that no one does patrols back here. Also, I’m a disguise expert so just give me a little credit here. I’ve been on the Prydwen. Technically, I’m in the Brotherhood, I’m just kind of a floating agent.” Deacon said as he whipped out a pack of cigarettes. “Speaking of the Prydwen, I’ve been hearing some whispers…”

Hailey gave him a cross look. “Deacon, I’m almost twenty-six years old. If you’re seriously going to lecture me…”

“Alright, alright. Just let me tell you that Desdemona heard, and as you can imagine, she’s not pleased. A trip to HQ is required at this point. She’s not loving the fact that you’re, uhh… _loving_ your assignment this much. How’s the Glowing Sea mission coming?” Deacon said taking a long drag off his cigarette.

“Well if you were here for the last hour or so, you saw the training I’m having to go through for it. Not pleased, but oh well. I should be working with Ingram sometime tonight and all throughout this week for upgrading my power armor. I need re-enforced lead paneling for the high level of radiation. The regular won’t cut it.” Hailey explained, in an almost bored voice. “Should be able to leave within the next week or so.”

“Well before you leave, stop by HQ. Des is getting… anxious to say the least.” Deacon smiled his famous, sly smile and slipped away, walking along the edge of the water. Hailey’s mind ran wild with thoughts of Des ordering Deacon to track her down. Hailey had come across the Railroad at a strange crossroads in her journey in the wasteland. When she had gone solo exploring with Dogmeat, she had found quite a couple of tapes from the Railroad explaining, “ _Follow the Freedom Trail_ ”. Hailey was surprised at their use of the pre-war historical monuments, especially the Freedom Trail. An average wastelander wouldn’t know where to even start, but luckily Hailey was a history buff and had toured the trail before, which lead to Old North Church.

_Hailey padded forward carefully with Dogmeat past the statue of Paul Revere on his horse outside of the church. Through all this time, the structure was mostly intact. Hailey paused noticing the marker on the ground. “1-R” it read, as all the other markers had a letter and a number scrawled on in red paint. Hailey brought out the scrap piece of paper she’d been copying them down on and wrote them in order; “RAILROAD” was the code. She laughed aloud and shook her head at the simplicity of the code. Dogmeat cocked his head to the side, ears flapping over. She proceeded towards the front door of the church, and noticed the large white lantern painted onto the ancient brick. It held a single flame in the frame of the lantern._

_Hailey placed her hand attentively on the doorknob and Dogmeat whined as the chipped white door swung open to reveal a dark foyer. Shadows danced on the walls as all the light in the small room was provided by candles that had been lit for a long time, judging by the pile of wax below them. The doorway into the next room was illuminated by the sunlight that cascaded down into the nave. The roof had given away in parts, which lead to some of the pews being covered with rock. Hailey stared up at the ceiling, peering at the blue sky that was fading away slowly as time passed. Dogmeat woofed loudly and made Hailey snap out of the trance she was in just in time to see a decrepit figure rush towards her. She pulled out her 10mm and gunned the ghoul down._

_She could hear more commotion and rustling as the noise disturbed the other ferals in the surrounding area. She shot and put three more ferals out of their endless wandering, and descended into the depths of the church. The tunnels were black apart from the occasional patch of glowing fungus, so Hailey turned on the flashlight on her pip boy while Dogmeat wandered ahead. She heard him growl and then yelp as a commotion began just out of her view. “Dumb dog.” She thought as she sprinted toward the sound and came upon Dogmeat sinking his teeth into a reaver’s leg trying to tear through the thick leather armor that was still on the body. Hailey fought the urge to gag as she thought about what the ghoul must taste like to the dog. She shot the reaver three times in the head before he fell. Silence descended on the tunnel once again as Hailey crouched down to check on Dogmeat._

_They made their way through the crypt, descending even further underneath the surface. They rounded one final corner which lead to a dead end. Dogmeat huffed and began to sniff around while Hailey shined her flashlight into the darkness. Her light found the brick wall where there was a marker like all the other locations on the Freedom Trail._

_“This must be it boy.” Hailey said aloud as Dogmeat wandered over to her side and whined. There was a thin red wire leading from the marker to a section of brick. Hailey stepped towards the marker and peered at the small red arrow that had been painted on the circle, pointing towards a letter engraved on the cold metal. She paused for a moment, pondering what this could mean. She pulled out the very crumpled piece of paper she’d wrote ‘RAILROAD’ on. She hesitantly reached out and pushed the dial in, since it was already on ‘R’._

_The dial pressed in and a loud click came from somewhere behind the wall. Hailey spun the dial around and pressed after every letter. When she pressed the last letter in, the wall to her left collapse from a small explosion. After the dust cleared, Hailey and Dogmeat stepped through the rubble into a pitch-black cavern, which was quickly illuminated with a bright white light._

_“Who are you?” A woman’s voice called through._

Hailey made her way back to the vertibird after weapons training with Danse. All she wanted to do was go to Arthur’s quarters and sleep the rest of the evening and night away, but she knew that Ingram was waiting for her.

“Hey there Miller, how was your first day of training with lover boy? Too soon?” Came a voice from the cockpit of the ‘bird and Hailey looked up to see Zane’s aviators gleaming in her direction.

“Yeah too soon, I don’t think I’ll ever recover from that ‘training’. It was horrible, my body is already killing me.” Hailey retorted back grumpily.

“Well let’s go get some food in you then, you’re looking hangry.” Zane laughed loudly, as they both hit the roof of the ‘bird. Hailey gripped the leather loop hanging from the ceiling as Zane took flight. Zane was an excellent pilot, and he knew just how to keep Hailey on her toes; he faked system failures at least once a week with new recruits.

They docked on the Prydwen and proceeded inside and down to the lower deck for some dinner. A patrol had brought back a large quantity of radscorpion, and the mess hall cook had transformed it into a delicious soup. Hailey and Zane settled at a table near the corner of the mess hall away from the main crowd.

“Are you headed to Ingram after this? Shouldn’t be too packed in there now that it’ll be after dinner.” Zane said while slurping loudly on his soup, playing with the noodles.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping for. I’ll put in a couple of hours on the suit and then hopefully go to bed. My suit should be done in the next two days, then Danse has been lecturing me about updating my weapons and armor so a Diamond City run might be needed to see what Arturo has for me.” Hailey continued to say, “I’ll probably go alone for that, I need my alone time before I kill someone. It’ll be nice not to be recognized as the strange woman who sleeps with the Elder.”

“Yeah, I can only imagine. Maybe I should take some alone time, can’t be known as a ladies’ man to everyone.” Zane said seriously and Hailey burst out laughing. “I guess technically I am a one lady man now…”

“Yeah, how’s that going? Piper always budges into my private life and I never get much out of her.” Hailey inquired.

“Oh, you know, basic wasteland romance. I’ve been sneaking away every now and then to see her but that doesn’t happen very often. Maybe I’ll come with you to Diamond City, then we’ll just scatter into the night once we arrive.” Zane said, looking at Hailey for an answer. She just simply nodded.

“Sounds good, let’s go see how swamped Ingram is.” Hailey said, standing and grabbing her empty bowl.

Zane and Ingram hung around the workbench while Hailey worked on coating the insides of the legs of her power armor. Ingram would occasionally give Hailey pointers, and Zane would occasionally tell her some useless piece of advice that wouldn’t even apply to what she was doing. They worked until about 2100 hours and Hailey could feel herself starting to crash and she started to think about the bath tub that Maxson had in his luxurious private bathroom.

“Alright, I think I’m calling it quits for tonight. Arms, chest, and helmet tomorrow.” Hailey said, and Zane opened his mouth to protest. “No, don’t say anything. I’m way too tired. Tomorrow.” She stood up and walked towards Maxson’s quarters. As she reached the steel door, a door to her right opened. She locked eyes with Paladin Danse who turned red in the face and quickly shut the door without saying anything. Hailey thought about how weird he was acting today but quickly shrugged it off as she knocked softly on the door.

“ _Enter.”_ Came Maxson’s deep voice from behind the door. She cracked the door and slowly entered to find him at his table, stacks of files and spare sheets of papers spread over every surface.

“Oh, it’s you. How was your day?” Arthur said, his face softening as Hailey strode over to him. He pulled her down onto his lap, throwing the pen that was in his hand down onto the many papers on the table.

“It was probably the toughest training day ever. My body hurts all over.” She replied, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Well, that’s Danse for you. Never does anything half assed. You can use the bath if you want. I’ve got to finish these reports.” Maxson chuckled softly and helped her off his lap.

“Alright, alright. I might never get out of that bath though. Just be prepared.” Hailey said strolling towards the bathroom.

“Well, I can always help you if you need it.” Arthur replied gruffly, his back to Hailey but she could see his ears glow red. She laughed and shut the door behind her. The water pressure was taking its own sweet time but the water was hot. Hailey groaned as she lowered herself into the tub, the water turning her skin red and her muscles slowly relaxing. She leaned back in the tub turning off the water, and closing her eyes.

_“I should be asking you the same thing, but I have a pretty strong inkling that this is Railroad HQ.” Hailey retorted, her eyes adjusting to the light. There were four people in front of her, the tall strawberry blonde woman seemed to be the leader. There was another tall African American woman holding a mini gun, pointed in Hailey’s direction right behind the leader, then two men off to Hailey’s right. She stared at one of the men, and he looked strangely familiar. He had on aviator sunglasses and black hair, and was dressed in nothing special. The woman began to speak again and Hailey’s attention snapped back to her._

_“Who sent you?” She demanded._

_“Well I found a couple of tapes, and I was really just interested in seeing if I could find you, but I’ll hear you out. What is the Railroad?” Hailey inquired. She could see the woman with the minigun relax slightly… what were they so scared of?_

_“The Railroad is an organization dedicated to the liberation of synths from their masters at the Institute. These synths are indeed robots, but they have feelings and didn’t ask to be created. Most of them are programmed to be hostile. We fight against that and give them a chance at a normal life, free of mind control.” Desdemona explained. “My only question for you is, would you risk your life for the common man, even if that man was a synth?”_

_“Yes.” Hailey replied simply. “I don’t agree with synths, but you’re right. They didn’t ask to be programmed or created. They deserve to make their own choices.” The man with the sunglasses smiled._

_“See Des, told you she’d be a good fit.” He walked towards Hailey slowly and Dogmeat growled. “Woah, pup it’s okay, I’m really harmless.” He held up his hands in mock surrender as Hailey put her hand on the back of Dogmeat’s neck, weaving her fingers through his soft fur. The man continued to step forward. “You’re a pretty big deal out there, General, also known as ‘The Woman Out of Time’. Really, I’m impressed.”_

_“Thanks, just call me Hailey though, General is a little formal.” Hailey replied and she smiled as the man laughed._

_“As an agent of the Railroad, you’d have a codename, and you’d only be referred to as that codename. That is, if you want to be in the Railroad.” Desdemona called from behind the man. “Deacon here has been very impatient waiting for you to find us. You’re pretty much all he talks about.”_

_“Well, yeah I guess I could join you guys. Just know I may be in and out, I have other duties… Minutemen and other things.” Hailey said, glad to see that she was such an asset to the wasteland. She wouldn’t have made it this far if she wasn’t. “So, what’s my codename?”_

_“You pick it yourself, but I strongly suggest ‘Charmer’, I’ve been trying to pressure someone into using it for what feels like years now.” Deacon said flashing his perfect smile in her direction._

_“Alright, Charmer it is. When do we get started?” Hailey said, as Deacon’s smile grew wider._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient for this chapter. I've had the shittiest month ever, and it might be awhile until another chapter is ready. This chapter has been ready to be posted for over a month now, then shit hit the fan in my personal life and of course, writing was the first thing to be put on the back burner. I have a feeling it'll help to write again, but no guarantees. Check my tumblr for more updates there, and sneak peeks of future chapters. Also feel free to pick my brain and message me. Tumblr is just thebowlcut. Thanks guys.


	19. Why Don't You Do Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey sneaks away for a meeting with the Railroad, which is overheard by Danse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. 
> 
> Song by Lil Green.

Hailey’s following days consisted of the same routine: wake up with Arthur, work-out with Danse, weapon practice with Danse, dinner with Zane and occasionally Arthur, then working late into the night on Righteous Authority or her power armor. She woke up as she usually did, next to Arthur, his body radiating heat. Hailey curled closer to him, sliding her hand across his bare chest. He inhaled deeply in response and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. Arthur planted a kiss on the top of her head and sighed.

“It’s that time, isn’t it?” He said quietly, running his fingers through Hailey’s hair.

“It’s 6:00 A.M. It’s time to think about getting up, just another day training, right?” She replied.

“Actually, I was going to tell you last night, but you fell asleep so quickly… It’s time, Hailey.” Arthur’s hand found the side of her face, and lifted her head so she was looking at him in the dimly lit room.

“It’s time? Like today? I need to go to Diamond City first… it can’t be today.” Hailey could feel her heart rate speed up and her voice rose a pitch higher, thoughts of the church flashing through her mind.

“Well we can arrange that. Lancer Zane can go with you, I’ll arrange for a vertibird drop off, and then I can provide you with a vertibird grenade, so you guys don’t have to walk back. Let’s aim for tomorrow, does that sound okay?” Arthur said, taking on his authoritative tone. Hailey stared at him blankly for a small fraction of time then answered.

“Yeah, should be fine, I probably won’t be back until late tonight then. I’ll go round up Zane. Does Danse know?” Hailey said, pulling herself from bed and groaning as she stood up.

“No, but I’ll let him know.” Arthur replied simply watching Hailey pull on her jumpsuit.

“Alright, off I go to pull Zane from his three hours of sleep. I can hear his enthused tone already.” Hailey winked at Arthur and then gave him a quick kiss and creeped out of his room. The Prydwen was quiet this early in the morning. The patrols hadn’t come back in, and breakfast wasn’t ready. Hailey wasn’t going to wait for breakfast either, which was probably going to piss Zane off even more but she’d make it up to him by taking him for some noodles. She walked about the Prydwen with a different air about her, head held high now that people knew about her and Arthur’s relationship.

Even though they had fessed up in public such a short time ago, the troops seemed to be able to magically mind their own business again. Hailey could fade in to the bustle of the Prydwen and finally have some time to just enjoy people’s eyes not lingering on her. Hailey hadn’t slept in her bunk for over a week now, but people didn’t seem to notice anymore.

She took the stairs two at a time and came upon Zane’s bunk. He was sprawled across the entire bed, one leg and arm dangling over the edge, his knuckles almost hitting the ground. He snored loudly and the knight in the bunk adjacent to his huffed and rolled over, trying to block out the noise. Before Hailey prodded him awake, she checked where his rifle was. Luckily it was in his footlocker, away from his grasp. She cleared her throat loudly then leaned forward and gave him a sharp poke in the arm.

“ _Go… talk to the rad… roach. He has your caps… I swear.”_ Zane muttered in his sleep. Hailey laughed softly and poked him again. He opened an eye to glare up at her. “Fuck. Off.”

“Oh, come on, don’t you want to go to Diamond City?” Hailey inquired. Zane closed his eye again and exhaled loudly.

“I don’t want to leave this fucking bed…” He said quietly, stretching out and groaning. “I guess I can go, but you owe me a noodle cup and a beer… On second thought, two beers.”

“I’m sure it’ll be more than two, now get up. We need to go.” She aimed a kick at the edge of the mattress and it must have found it’s mark judging the flurry of words that came out of Zane’s mouth involving her ancestors, Codsworth, and a mini nuke.

“I’ll meet you in ten by the ‘bird, sweetheart.” She called back over her shoulder. Zane threw up his middle finger in response. Hailey laughed as she made her way back to Maxson’s quarters to grab her things.

Arthur was still in bed, fast asleep, trying to catch what little rest the young elder could. Hailey didn’t see him asleep often, so she quietly studied him. His youth was apparent when he was asleep, his face completely relaxed, and his lips parted slightly. He didn’t snore, but she could hear his soft breaths over the silence in the room. The stubble had begun to show on his neck, meaning that when she crawled into bed with him later it would be gone. He was amazingly well groomed, always messing with his hair in the mirror after a shower or hand clipping stray hairs from his beard.

She quietly crept around the edge of the bed and picked up her bag and started to shove clothes into it. She didn’t need a lot, just a change of clothes to throw off Brotherhood vertibirds if they happened to see her outside of Diamond City. Hailey grabbed her 10mm and holstered it on her thigh, then she slung Righteous Authority across her back next to the .50 cal sniper rifle she also carried. Danse always bitched about how tactically inefficient that was, as it slowed her down quite a bit. She rolled her eyes at the mental lecture that played in her head. He always stopped complaining about it when he saw her take down raiders one by one, before they even realized the pair were there.

Taking all her guns might make her look suspicious, but Maxson wasn’t awake to doubt her, and who knows what she’d run into on her trek through the city. She’d rather have him feel uncomfortable than her dying in the streets like an unexperienced farmer. She could also have Arturo look at her weapons for possible upgrades she could make to them. She doubted there was anything else she could/wanted to do to improve them anymore. Hailey took one last look at Arthur still sound asleep in his bed and shut the door quietly.

She turned around and was greeted by Danse’s door opening. He looked her over from head to toe with a stern look on his face.

“Where are you headed off to, Knight?” He said continuing to stare at her. Hailey noticed that he only referred to her as ‘Knight’ or ‘Knight Miller’ now. She stared back at him.

“Diamond City run.” She said simply her stomach shifting uncomfortably as she could see him think through her lie.

“Fantastic, I need to discuss somethings with Arturo. I also… uh… need to get a haircut.” Danse ran his hand through his seemingly perfect hair and dodged Hailey’s eyes. She squinted at him, trying to see if he would fess up to the lie. He turned around quickly, pausing before opening his door. “I’ll meet you on the flight deck in five, Knight.”

Hailey sighed as she climbed onto the Prydwen’s upper deck. Getting caught leaving without her commanding officer would be a strike in Danse’s book. Now she had to plan on how to ditch her commanding officer to meet with synth sympathizers. She took a small breath of relief when she saw Zane stretching on the walkway outside.

“Wow, what a beautifully shitty day outside.” He remarked at the gray clouds in the sky, scratching his chin in mock contemplation.

“Got some bad news, Danse saw me leaving. He’ll be out here soon.” Hailey said, climbing into the vertibird.

“Are you kidding me right now? Captain Douche really saw you? Make that three beers you owe me.” Zane said, glaring at Hailey and held up his hands to count on his fingers how many times he was inconvenienced. “Getting me up before noon, making me see my girlfriend and now making me travel with the glorified tin can. Thanks, really.”

“Are you being sarcastic? I really can’t tell. If you aren’t, you’re welcome… bitch.” Hailey said rolling her eyes at the lancer as he gasped with fake hurt.

“Oh look, here comes the scrap right now.” Zane said turning to watch Danse come trudging out onto the flight deck in his power armor. Danse nodded silently to the knight that stood guard outside the door and continued towards Hailey and Zane. Danse’s eyes scanned the platform and met Hailey’s and she could swear she saw him smile just a little before turning red and returning his gaze to the steel walkway.

“Miller, Zane. Let’s get on with it, shall we?” Danse said heaving himself into the vertibird. Once he settled the trio hit the roof of the bird signaling they were ready to go. Hailey smiled at Zane and he winked at her. No matter how hard the paladin tried to distance himself from being friends with Hailey and Zane, it was still in his reflex to keep up the tradition before taking off.

Boston spread out underneath them as they flew towards Diamond City, block after block of rubble passing by. They came to a landing just south of Diamond City on the train tracks. The trio dropped out of the bird and Danse saluted the pilot as he took off again. They walked quietly towards the city, guns at the ready. That’s one thing Hailey had to get used to; the wasteland was unpredictable, and you couldn’t let yourself fall into the habit of feeling safe. Even around highly populated areas, danger lurked in the shadows.

Hailey breathed a small breath of relief when they walked into the stadium, the city just beginning to show signs of life in the morning. They had about half an hour before the shops opened so Zane suggested they meet with Piper. Zane lead the way with a loud greeting.

“What’s cooking, good looking?” Zane said as they all shuffled into Piper’s shack. She was dressed in her pajamas still and was using her stove.

“Nothing for you if you keep being that loud…” Piper responded with a croaky voice; she must have just woken up. She took a long drink out of the mug to her right.

“Oh, whatever Pip, you would never.” Zane said as he strolled over to give her a kiss on the forehead.

“Try me.” Piper grumbled quietly. Hailey walked over and gave her a hug before going to sit on the small couch in the living area.

Danse shifted awkwardly by the door and Hailey patted the couch next to her. He walked over to a larger space in Piper’s home and stepped out of his power armor. Hailey watched him lumber over to her and throw himself down on the couch, exhaling as he relaxed into the old, broken in piece of furniture. Hailey was surprised by the amount of heat he put out, even just resting. She had never been this close to him outside of training. She looked him over slowly until she reached his face, where she noticed he was looking at her with an uncomfortable look on his face. Hailey felt her face grow red as her eyes met his and she looked away quickly. Thankfully, Piper was coming over with a plate of food and a coffee-induced smile.

“You okay?” Piper said with a smirk on her face. Hailey turned her head so Danse couldn’t see the glare she shot Piper. Piper laughed at the look on Hailey’s face as she handed her breakfast to her. Danse declined breakfast politely and continued to sit in silence. Piper tried to drill him into talking and he responded with as little words as possible. Eventually she gave up and began to talk to Hailey about why there were here. After Hailey explained it was finally time to go into the Glowing Sea, Piper’s eyes widened.

“What? Tomorrow? That’s ridiculous… I mean it eventually had to happen, but it seems so _soon._ ” Piper said, clearly speaking more to herself than anyone else. “Do you guys even know where to go?”

“There’s rumors that the Children of Atom cult reside out in the Glowing Sea. The plan is to try and make contact with them; Virgil could possibly be sheltering himself amongst them.” Danse piped in with the longest sentence he’d spoke since they arrived at Diamond City.

“That makes sense. Being that far out, he’s probably had communication with them at some point.” Piper replied. She looked at the Nuka-Cola clock on wall.

“Looks like the shops will be open now, not to kick you guys out, but Danse… Hailey… get out.” Zane laughed loudly, eyeing the clock as well as he pointed towards the door.

“Fine, I get it… jeez.” Hailey muttered as she pulled on her backpack containing an extra pair of clothes so she could sneak through the city unnoticed. She had to go by Boston Common and pick up a dead drop containing the location of her meeting with Des and Deacon. Meeting at HQ was too risky, especially now that Danse was tailing her. Danse and Hailey exited into the marketplace which was now alive in the brisk morning air. John was calling out into the open about haircuts that were only ten caps and not fifteen like usual, Solomon was trying to push buffout onto a couple of caravan guards walking by, and Myrna was screaming about synth-free shopping. Hailey fought the urge to roll her eyes while listening to Myrna’s usual hate speech routine.

Hailey and Danse slowly made their way towards Arturo with Danse looming behind Hailey protectively; she thought back to when they had been getting noodles and Diamond City security had shot someone in the marketplace. Danse had helped her clean the blood from her face… His hands were so gentle.

“Hailey, are you buying anything?” Danse’s voice snapped her back to the present as they stood at the counter of Arturo’s shop.

“Oh shit, yeah. Sorry… mental autopilot.” Hailey said sheepishly, looking away from Danse to smile at Arturo. “Hey, lemme look at your 10mm and 50 cal ammo.”

“Sounds like a plan, Ms. Miller.” Arturo replied, pulling out containers with bullets in them. He continued to make small talk with Hailey as she counted out the bullets she needed. She could buy fusion cells from Teagan later in the day after they returned to the Prydwen. He was cheaper than what Arturo was selling them for, anyway. After trading and bartering quite a bit with Arturo, Hailey had ended up giving him the large supply of .38 rounds she’d been lugging around plus another couple of pipe pistols and a nice, sub-nosed .44 pistol. Danse stepped up to the counter next, inquiring about upgrades to the laser rifle he had. As Arturo started to take apart the gun to show him some tricks, Hailey slipped away.

She walked away as casually as possible, blending in with the crowd until she reached the blue door of Home Plate. She hadn’t used the property in a while, having no use for it since she had sought out the Brotherhood. Hailey flipped the light switch on the inside of the door and started to strip off her armor. She fumbled with a couple of the buckles and cursed under her breath, thinking of how long she had until Danse noticed she was gone. She slipped in the casual clothes she had, threw on a large overcoat with a hood, and began to tuck her hair underneath a gray beanie she had found lying on the counter. She put on a pair of sunglasses and stepped back out into the morning air.

Hailey cast a hesitant look over to Arturo’s stall and let out a small sigh of relief; Danse was still standing there, his back to her. She continued to walk towards the city’s exit, bypassing Nat, who was out in front of Piper’s house waving a paper. As Hailey walked by, Piper and Zane walked out of the house, which caused Hailey to look that way instinctively. She could see Zane’s eyes narrow as they met her black sunglasses, but he looked away and didn’t look back again as Hailey began to make her way up the stairs and out of the city.

 _Home free,_ she thought as she passed the statue in front of the stadium. She hung a left and made her way through the wrecked streets. She surprisingly missed any sort of confrontation on her way to the common. Just outside of the area, there was a mailbox with a rail sign painted on the side of it. The sign was still gleaming in spots where the paint was fresh. Hailey opened the hatch to find nothing inside and began to panic but as she peered into the black hole more closely, she saw there was a slip of paper taped to the top of the bin.

She unfolded it quickly, casting a quick look over her shoulder in the empty alleyway behind her. She had a creeping feeling that someone was watching her, but brushed it off as paranoia. Hailey turned her eyes back to the small slip of paper that had Deacon’s sloppy handwriting on it. She pulled out a lighter and burned the note, letting it fall to the ground to be put out by the sole of her boot. She set off at a jog towards the only town that the Railroad could operate out of… Goodneighbor.

-0o0-

Danse watched Hailey disappear into the bright red door that lead to Goodneighbor, an unimpressed grimace resting on his face. _Of course_ , Danse thought to himself, _only Hailey could find friends in such low places._ Danse had followed her all the way from Diamond City, never letting her out of his sight. Goodneighbor was only so big; he’d have time to find her. He knew word would spread throughout the city quickly if he walked in, guns blazing and in full uniform. Danse looked around to find a small alleyway by an old super mutant den. He looked around for any signs of life, but they were long gone. He removed his power armor in a run-down elevator, and pulled out his civilian clothes. After changing quickly, he grabbed his laser rifle and moved back towards the neon lighting that plastered the entrance to Goodneighbor.

He walked in through the bright red door, trying to put off the air of he didn’t want to be fucked with, and he knew where he was going. Out of everywhere in Goodneighbor, Hailey would most likely meet at the bar. Danse nodded stiffly to the ghoul who was patrolling the entrance to the underground bar, trying to mask obvious distaste. The Third Rail still sang with life, even in the earlier hours of the day. The patrons sat at dimly lit tables, eyes scanning over the woman at the microphone. The woman was stunningly beautiful for a town that was infested with street rats; she had the most perfect green eyes that lit up in the spotlight and glowed with her lyrics.

As shifty as the town was, Whitechapel Charlie, the Mr. Handy manning the bar, would sell out anyone for a couple of extra caps; this was proven by the amount of caps he gave on top of the whiskey he bought. Hailey was apparently meeting someone in the back room of the bar. Danse crept back into the dimly lit hallway, standing just outside the doorway.

“Come on Charmer, the Glowing Sea? What do you have, a death wish?” Came a male voice from the room; the voice sounded familiar, but Danse couldn’t place it.

“Amari said it’s my best hope at contacting a scientist who’s left the Institute.” Hailey’s voice replied with a bored tone.

“It’s still a risky mission, especially when you’re traveling with the Brotherhood. How do you plan on pulling this off, Hailey? You can’t stay on everyone’s good side forever. I just hope when the time comes, you’ll choose the right side.” A new voice piped in, this time a woman’s.

“Des, I kind of roll with the punches, call it as I go.” Hailey replied, her voice shaking slightly. Danse knew she was about to blow up, her temper shorter than usual.

“God, no wonder you and Deacon work so well together. I guess you’ll just have to let us know how that goes. You know I don’t like being kept in the dark.” The woman’s voice came again, tone impatient.

“Ironic for an organization who works in the shadows.” Hailey replied.

There was a shuffling of chairs as they drug across the old concrete floor, and Danse hurried back out into the open bar. He began to replay the conversation over and over again in his head… An organization that operates in the shadows, that opposes the Institute? Danse had to confront Hailey. As an officer in the Brotherhood, and as her friend. If Maxson found out she was working with someone else, possibly sharing Brotherhood information, she’d be in more shit than she can handle. Not to mention what Maxson would do to her for betraying him…

Danse sat at the bar with his back to the main crowd, trying to blend in, until a voice came from behind him.

“What are you doing here, Danse?” Hailey said from over his shoulder, her voice dripping with accusation.

“I could ask you the same thing, Knight. Why don’t you grab a drink and a chair? I have a feeling we’ll be here for a while.” Danse replied coolly. Hailey sighed loudly and appeared in a chair to his right, staring intently at his face.

“What did you hear?” She asked.

“Enough.” Danse said simply, looking into the pools of blue in her eyes. She sighed again, running her hands through her hair, looking away from him and to the liquor bottles that lined the wall behind the bar.

“I don’t know what to say other than you had no business following me.” Hailey shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“I had every business following you, as a fellow soldier of the Brotherhood, as your commanding officer, and as your… friend. Hailey, are you going to betray the Brotherhood?” Danse inquired, fighting the urge to force her to look at him when she answered.

“If I wanted to betray you, I would have already done it… I just want peace. I want to work with everyone, to be the middle ground. The Railroad’s only beef with the Brotherhood is you killing synths. Gen 3 synths look exactly like people, Danse, they feel pain, hope, love… amongst other _human_ emotions. If they’re captured from the Institute, and their memories are erased, and they don’t know that they’re a synth, what difference does it make?” Hailey said, plowing forward like she had rehearsed it a million times in front of the mirror.

“The difference is a large one, Hailey; they were manufactured, not born like you or I.” Danse replied quietly. “The choice is yours in the end though. I can’t change your beliefs, I just wish you saw it the same way we do.”

“They’re treated as slaves, nothing more than simple machinery by the Institute. How is that ethical? How is that fair?” Hailey pleaded.

“The world isn’t fair nor ethical. Being from before the war, I thought you’d know that.” Danse replied darkly, his stomach shifting uneasily bringing up Hailey’s pre-war life.

“I know it isn’t Danse, I’m not stupid. It doesn’t mean I’m going to stand by and let the world be that way again. This world we can change, fight back. I plan on doing that, with or without you.” Hailey said, standing up abruptly. She leaned towards his ear, the hair on the back of his neck standing up as he could feel the barrel of a pistol pressed into his side.

“Let’s just make this clear, Danse… I enjoy having you as a friend, ally, whatever; follow me again, and I _will_ kill you.” Her voice dripped with poison, causing him to shudder. The pistol withdrew from his side, and Hailey disappeared with it, leaving Danse alone with his thoughts and unfinished whiskey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, questions, comments, and concerns are appreciated. My tumblr is thebowlcut.


	20. Runaround Sue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Glowing Sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by Dion.

“So… this is it.” Hailey said, staring upwards at the overpass. “The edge of the Glowing Sea.”

“Are you ready?” Danse asked, casting a sideways glance at her.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Hailey replied, turning to him and smiling before putting on her power armor helmet. She hadn’t seen Danse since she shoved the gun into his side in Goodneighbor. He returned to the Prydwen earlier than Zane and her. He’d been quiet on the bird ride to the Glowing Sea and didn’t seem to be in the mood for talking. She could feel his silent energy besides her and she shifted anxiously.

They crossed under the overpass into the green clouded area. There was a rad storm brewing on the horizon that seemed to stretch on for miles. Hailey stood in awe once they were fully ingulfed by the fog. The area was so calm it was hard to picture there being any danger, even though she knew they could be attacked at a moment’s notice. They headed towards the horizon, walking in sync and pausing occasionally to sweep the landscape. Hailey crouched on the ground looking through the scope of her beloved sniper rifle.

“Group of ghouls to the southeast, we can easily make it around or through them. It’s not a big group.” She looked up at Danse who remained silent. “You okay?”

“Yeah… I’ve been thinking Kni-… Hailey. The Elder is going to be really upset when you come clean about being in the Railroad.” Danse said, looking out over the landscape.

“Well that’s why I’m not telling him… neither will you.” Hailey replied, hoping her point was made clear.

“Not… telling… him.” Danse said slowly as if he was comprehending the heresy she had just said. “That’s not a good idea Hailey, the longer you wait, the worse it’s going to be.”

“Danse, I know what I’m doing. Besides, now is not the time to be discussing this. Let’s keep moving.” Hailey said, leading Danse further into The Glowing Sea. They took a wide sweep around the ghouls with the hopes of making the least noise possible. They neared a large range of hills, which had a sign staked below the path up the hillside.

“These markings are associated with the Children of Atom. We’re close.” Danse said, gesturing to the assortment of circles and sketches on the piece of fabric. Hailey inhaled deeply from behind her mask.

“Alright, well… let’s do this.” Hailey replied, stepping forward as they began to make their way up the hillside. The trail wasn’t as steep as the surrounding paths, but Hailey still found herself slightly winded by the top. It was hard to see through the thick green fog, but the hills opened up to a crater below them. There were metal structures built into the sides of the earth and one lone structure directly in the middle of the pit, suspended over large pools of radioactive waste. Hailey’s Geiger counter clicked menacingly in the background as they made their way down into the pit.

There were small groups of people huddled together, but they didn’t seem to be aware of Hailey and Danse’s presence and simply continued to mutter and bow to the middle of the crater. The people were dressed in rags and either had no hair at all, or large clumps were missing. They neared one of the larger structures and a frail woman approached them.

“Who dare approaches Atom’s holy ground? New believers?” The older woman said with a hint of hope in her voice.

“We’re searching for a Doctor Virgil, we heard he might be taking shelter here.” Hailey stepped closer to the woman, lowering her gun and speaking softly.

“We’ve seen this Virgil before, but you will not find him here. Atom has graced him, but he flees from the holy light. He is taking shelter alone. He’s mentioned a cave before, to the southwest.” The woman raised a thin arm wrapped in cloth and pointed to somewhere over the hills.

“Why do you worship radiation, here of all places?” Hailey blurted out before she could stop herself, genuinely curious.

“Atom has touched this place directly with his own mystical powers… This is the most holy place in the Commonwealth, our followers travel hundreds of miles to reach it.” The woman smiled, and her teeth were a sickly yellow tint.

Hailey gasped softly, “ _Atom has touched this place directly…”_ She turned to look at Danse, expecting to see his eyes wide, mouth slightly open in realization, much like her own, but she was met with an emotionless power armor helmet. Danse shifted uncomfortably so Hailey knew he must have come to the same conclusion as her. The bomb was dropped here, over two hundred years ago; it explained why this area was so highly irradiated. Hailey simply nodded, an uneasy feeling in her gut.

“Thank you, we’ll get out of your hair now…” Hailey turned and started to walk away.

“At least what’s left of it.” Danse muttered quietly besides her. She choked back a laugh and turned her head towards him.

“Did you, Paladin Danse, just make a joke?” Hailey giggled quietly as he shook his head and walked ahead of her.

As Danse lead the pair onto the steep hillside, Hailey was left alone to her thoughts. She was in shock, mulling over the idea that everything that had ruined her life, could be summed up in a crater that wasn’t more than a mile wide. What took her son and her husband, along with her family and friends was now worshipped, considered to be a blessing even. Rage bristled through her as she walked past a man whispering to the ground. Before the war, the world wasn’t a perfect place but even after the bombs dropped, nothing changed. The war didn’t solve anything, it just shed light to the most basic of human instincts. A calm feeling came over her though when she remembered that there was still good in the world. Hailey thought of Preston, Sturges, even Marcy Long, and she came to appreciate them in a new light. They hadn’t lowered their standards or morals even though the wasteland treated them like shit. They still reached out and shared what could be their last meal with absolute strangers.

She then thought of Danse, watching his large form in front of her stomp up the side of the hill, laser rifle gripped tightly in his hands. He glanced from left to right before he continued on. As much as he frustrated Hailey some days with his tight-ass attitude, she understood where he was coming from. She was the same way with Preston and all the other Minutemen under her command. Constant vigilance reduced casualties and let Hailey sleep soundly at night. She realized it was hard to imagine that the sharp criticism was coming from a place of caring, and concern. She sighed outwardly and jogged to catch up to him just as they came to the peak of the hill.

“Hailey, use your rifle scope and see if you can see the cave from here. I can’t see for shit out here.” Danse said gruffly next to her.

“Man, a joke and a curse out of Paladin Danse’s mouth all in one day? Hell, I might be rubbing off on you.” Hailey laughed and peered through the scope of her rifle, scanning the desolate landscape. She came focused on an opening in the side of a cliff not too far from them. She marked the approximate location on her Pip-Boy before turning back to Danse. “There, in the side of the cliff, there’s a rusted car right by the opening. Can you see that?”

“Affirmative. Seems to be southwest also, just as the cultist said.” Danse nodded besides Hailey then began to head off in that direction. “Stay on the lookout, I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Hailey and Danse made their way across the small strip of land until they came to the bottom of a valley where the cave was. They slowed to a walk, both gripping their rifles tightly as the air seemed to take on more of a threatening tone. Hailey heard a growl just before Danse threw his armor-clad arm into her chest to stop her from moving forward. She threw a glare at him then quickly shifted her gaze back towards the noise of an even larger growl.

Time seemed to slow as Danse raised his rifle and began to shoot at the biggest deathclaw Hailey had ever seen. It made the one in Concord look like a cute pet. The deathclaw was black with some lighter brown patches and riddled with battle scars. It stopped in its tracks as its eyes caught sight of Hailey and Danse. The deathclaw turned its head up to the sky and let out an ear-splitting roar that made Hailey grimace and exclaim out loud.

“This is what we trained for, Miller! Focus!” Danse called from her left, already side stepping to prepare for the deathclaw to charge. Hailey drew her attention back to the beast, Danse’s laser fire deflecting off its thick hide. It lowered itself onto all fours and began to run towards Hailey and Danse, dodging from left to right, weaving in and out of the laser fire. Hailey took a deep breath and aimed for the small patch of soft skin on the deathclaw’s chest, firing a full cell into it. The deathclaw stopped and roared again, the skin of its chest smoking slightly. Hailey reloaded quickly as Danse fired more rounds onto the creature’s chest.

Hailey swore loudly as the beast began to charge Danse and he stepped out of the way just in time. She began to unload round after round at the deathclaw, her accuracy poor in a desperate attempt to get the beast away from her partner. The deathclaw rounded on her and began to charge and Hailey stumbled backwards.

“God damn it! Hailey, MOVE!” She heard Danse yell as the deathclaw was about fifteen feet in front of her. She spun to the side, losing her footing and fell to the ground, her laser rifle clattering against the ground and skidding away from her. Hailey turned onto her back, only to be met with the sight of the large deathclaw standing directly over her, its left hand raised above its head, claws gleaming in the light. Hailey could hear Danse yelling from behind the deathclaw as she looked down the deathclaw’s body, taking in what would probably be the last thing she saw. She could see something between the deathclaw’s large feet and in a split second, she realized what was going on and rolled back over, placing her arms over her neck and head.

The explosion was deafening, Hailey’s ears ringing with a loud, high-pitched tone. She felt a large thud shortly after the grenade had detonated and figured it must have been the deathclaw judging by how she was still in one piece. She opened her eyes and slowly pushed herself off the ground before being forced back down by a large hand in her back. The hand then rolled her over, another joining it to hook under her arms and begin pulling her to shelter in the side of the cliff. She groaned audibly, feeling a sharp pain in her leg as Danse pulled her over the harsh surface. She let her eyes slide shut again until the light faded away.

When she opened them again, her eyes adjusted to the darkness as rough hands pulled off her helmet. She could see Danse’s face in front of hers, extremely close as his brown eyes searched her empty expression. His mouth was moving, but she couldn’t hear him, and her head was too foggy to read his lips. She just limply shook her head and began to close her eyes again, only to be shaken awake by Danse. He turned back to his empty armor and began to pull a medic bag from the inside. Two stimpacks appeared in his hand as he turned back to Hailey. Concern and worry were plain on his face as he gently took the back of her neck in his hand and injected the stim somewhere behind her ear. Hailey yelped softly as the familiar poke of the needle appeared, the ringing in her ears slowly fading, and the fog clearing. She blinked a couple of times as Danse looked at her, watching her come back to full consciousness.

“Hailey, can you hear me?” His voice has muffled, but she could indeed hear him. His hand was still on the back of her neck and his thumb absentmindedly rubbed across her skin softly. She nodded silently, grimacing slightly when she noticed the pain in her leg.

“I need to get you out of your power armor, you need to roll to your side. I’ll lift your leg.” Danse explained calmly as he stood up and walked down to her feet. “Alright roll to your left until you’re on your stomach… and please don’t kick me.” Hailey nodded again and focused all her energy into her arms and core, rocking slightly. The small movement cause a pain to shoot through her leg and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

“ _Fuck!”_ She exclaimed in a strained voice. “Danse, I don’t know if I can do this. It’s really bad.”

“Listen to me, I know you can do this. We’ll work together, rock that way on the count of three.” Danse said soothingly behind her. “One… two… three!”

“ _Shit, shit, shit!”_ Hailey whined, exhaling loudly as she finally rolled onto her stomach. “You’re gonna have to lift me out, I can’t stand on my own.”

“That’s fine, it’s not the first time I’ve lifted you.” Danse said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Save the ‘always injured’ lecture for later please. Preferably while I’m under the influence of med-x.” Hailey griped back at him. She flinched as he opened the back of her suit.

“Alright, I’m going to lift you and put you back down on the ground. Work with me here.” Danse pleaded as his arms wrapped around her. He pulled her up a little before shifting her into his arms, Hailey reaching for his shoulders as he cradled her against him.

“Is there a lot of blood? I can’t look.” Hailey said her voice shaking.

“There’s a decent amount. Nothing a stimpack won’t fix though. Cade should still take a look at it back on the Prydwen later.” Danse said quietly to her as he knelt to lower her to the ground again. “Alright, I’m gonna stick you. Prepare yourself.”

Hailey exhaled loudly as she felt the poke of the needle. Immediately the pain began to fade in her leg and she no longer grimaced or cried out when Danse poked and prodded at it. She stood and gingerly put weight on the leg and found it was sore, but there was no acute pain. Hailey and Danse, mostly Danse, lifted Hailey’s power armor off the ground into a standing position. Silence fell on the cavern and Hailey could hear the faint noise of a turret sputtering.

“Turret up ahead, be on guard.” Hailey muttered to the Paladin as they began to step towards the sound. They treaded deeper into the cave and Hailey’s anxiety began to gnaw at her, causing her hands to flex on Righteous Authority. The sound of the turret grew louder as it crept into view. Hailey flinched, expecting to hear it target her with two distinct beeps, but they never came. It continued to sputter and rotate as if Hailey and Danse weren’t even there. Hailey turned to give Danse a puzzled look and he shrugged his shoulders in response, his rifle pointed towards the opening past the turret.

“Stop right there.” A gravelly voice came from the opening. “Who sent you? Was it Kellogg?” The voice seemed to show anxiety at mention of the notorious mercenary.

“Kellogg’s dead.” Hailey responded loudly.

“Dead?” The voice paused thoughtfully. “How do you know this?”

“I’m the one that killed him.” Hailey said sharply, an image of his body flashing through her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed on. “Are you Dr. Brian Virgil?”

“Are you with the Institute? Who sent you?” The voice was rough again, demanding.

“I sent myself. The Institute took my son, I need a way in.” Hailey responded. “Please, I know you escaped.”

“That’s true.” The voice sounded closer and Hailey swore she could begin to hear footsteps. “I used to study bioengineering at the Institute, when I escaped my last experiment had… unfortunate side effects. They came in handy at the beginning but have now came back to bite me in the ass.” The man sighed loudly, and Hailey pictured him rubbing his forehead. “If I help you, I need you to fetch me the cure. It will be in my old laboratory. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find.”

“Alright, I can. As long as I’m not immediately shot on sight when I get in.” Hailey responded, taking a step closer to the man.

“The Institute uses teleportation to relay synths in and out, each synth having its own relay code. The classical radio station is the call sign. Now I’ll give you instructions on how to hi-jack the relay, but I have to come out to do that.” The voice sounded anxious, even shaky. “I’m going to come around the corner, hands in the air, unarmed.”

Danse stepped forward, shielding half of Hailey’s body with his own as the footsteps grew louder. Everything seemed to happen so fast as Virgil stepped into the open. Danse swore loudly and before Hailey could stop him, three bright beams had come out of his rifle and lit up the cavern. Hailey closed her eyes from the sudden flash of light and she heard a loud thud. When she opened her eyes again, the cavern was dark and Danse was looking at her with shock plain on his face. He opened his mouth as Hailey shoved him to the side to check on the doctor.

What she found instead was a super mutant in clothes and a torn lab coat. The front of the lab coat still had his identification badge pinned on it. Brian Virgil was dead at her feet, the last known lead into The Institute. Her last chance of finding her son, everything she had worked for, killed for, and bled for was destroyed.

“Danse! Are you fucking kidding me? He’s dead!” Hailey expected her voice to be strong, outraged but instead she found it weak and it cracked at the end as she began to sob. She looked up at Danse, and he was looking down at her, mouth still open. “That was my… last chance…” She coughed out in between sobs. “My son! Danse, say… something!” She began to yell at him, rising from her feet and stepping towards him. She was shocked to see herself reach out and slap him. The sound rang out in the cavern over the sound of the turret and his hand instinctively reached up to touch the red part of his face.

“You fucking bastard, say something! Not every super mutant is _Cutler!_ ” Hailey screamed in his face, her rage over taking her. She shoved his chest hard and he stumbled back his mouth still partially opening, not forming words. She shoved him again, his back hitting the wall of the cavern. “Do you understand what you just did? You made the wrong call! Again, and again, Danse. Now another innocent being is dead and it’s _your fault._ ” She slammed her hands against his chest struggling through the sobs. She lowered her head and let the cries wrack through her body, shaking against him. Hailey felt large hands on her back and she quickly stepped backwards.

“Hailey…” Danse’s voice was quiet, hesitant. “He… he was a super mutant. I’m sorry.” Hailey wiped her nose on the sleeve of her jumpsuit, now disgusted by the look of it on her. She didn’t belong here, not in The Brotherhood. They shot first and asked questions later, and she wasn’t about to be the next drone in that army. Not for Arthur, not for Danse, not for anyone. It wasn’t right. She backed slowly away from Danse until her foot found her rifle on the floor and she bent to pick it up, not breaking eye contact with Danse.

“Hailey.” He said again, this time stronger than before, more confident. “Don’t do anything you’re going to regret just for the mutant.”

“Just a mutant, Danse?” She pointed the rifle at his chest. “You’re just a man. What would one more be? You know how many creatures and men alike I’ve put into the ground for The Brotherhood, for Arthur?” Her voice dripped with hate and Danse’s eye’s widened. “For _you?_ Just to be repaid with the only strong lead of finding my son and avenging my dead husband, being shot right in front of my eyes? Now here you are, at the same mercy he was at. No gun, hands up… it could end the same for you.”

“Please… don’t do this. You can’t come back from it. You’ll be hunted, and killed.” Danse replied at barely louder than a whisper. “You’ll never find Shaun if you kill me.”

“I can disappear with The Railroad before Arthur ever found your body. Change my face and melt into the crowd. I can hide in plain sight.” Hailey said taking a step back towards Danse, her knuckles white from her grip on the rifle. “I warned you Danse, in Goodneighbor; I told you never to follow me again, I could have killed you right there. I could have killed you again when you were going to shoot Nick, and now we find ourselves in the same scenario. Why is it that I keep finding you, an ally, at the end of my barrel?”

“Hailey, I’m sorry. The Brotherhood has certain ideals, and you disagree with them. I was trained from a young age to uphold them, I don’t know any other way.” Danse said, pleading with her. “Please, just let me go.”

Hailey gripped her rifle tightly, her finger sliding over the trigger. Danse’s brown eyes widened as she pulled it. He didn’t flinch, didn’t move, just closed his eyes. Hailey sobbed again after the shot rang out and Danse re-opened his eyes. He looked at her with a thankful expression and she mopped the tears off that were streaming down her face and looked at the large black burn in the rock next to Danse’s head.

“Don’t follow me.” She said quietly as she turned from the room and ran back to her power armor, hopping in quickly and emerging from the cave. The deathclaw’s corpse stood about thirty yards from the cave entrance with a trail of her blood from the body to where she stood now. Her leg wasn’t hurting anymore due to the adrenaline of threatening Danse’s life. She took off at a jog, deciding not to waste anymore of her precious time while the adrenaline coursed through her. She stopped occasionally, searching for anything that might attack her and coming up empty.

Hailey mentally thanked Danse for pushing her so hard to run because it was the only thing that kept her going in the moment. There was a faint pain in her leg that appeared as she crossed the front of the crater where the Children of Atom were. She checked the direction on her HUD to make sure she was headed in the direction of the overpass. She began to breathe heavier as she jogged on, the dull pain of her leg becoming stronger with every step. The armor could only support part of her movement and her Geiger was clicking ominously.

Hailey slowed to a walk, grunting with every step she took, the pain shooting from her calf all the way to her hip. She could imagine the overpass in the distance, but still couldn’t see it through the green haze. She held back a retch as a wave of nausea passed over her, and continued to push on. She had to be close to the overpass by now. Hailey stopped and stood in the fog, turning around and looking at her surroundings.

There was nothing of significance, no landmarks, no shelter. Hailey looked down at her leg and felt her stomach drop. In the rush of getting away from Danse she didn’t check on how bad off her armor was after the fight with the deathclaw. There was a large hole in the shin plate and the splintered metal had rubbed against her leg, wearing the wound open again. Blood was oozing out of the wound and the more she moved forward, the more the metal dug into itself. Panic began to set in as she gagged again from the sudden onset of nausea. Danse’s voice came back into her head from one of their many training sessions before this mission, “ _Radiation poisoning will set in quickly out there, by the time you realize you have it, it’ll be too late.”_

Hailey stood in silence, shocked. She’s killed men, women, and the wastelands most dangerous creatures. This was how she was going to die… not in some epic showdown for the life of her son, but alone in the fog. No one would come for her body, no one would find her. Her head felt clouded as she looked at the wound on her leg again. She looked to her left where there was a lone log from a fallen tree and she wobbled over to it. She gingerly sat down, keeping her leg straight. Hailey chuckled to herself at this action, like it was going to help her any. She was alone, without supplies in an endless wasteland.

She looked up at the sky and was shocked to see some stars twinkling back at her through the fog. She was so close, she needed to try. Hailey stood up and began to limp to the north. She almost sobbed in relief at the slight outline of the overpass before stumbling over small logs and rocks, struggling to find her balance.

Hailey tripped over a large stick and hit the ground hard, crying out as she felt the metal dig into her leg. She could feel the surrounding tatters of her jumpsuit get saturated with her blood. She began to cry before pulling off her helmet to vomit next to herself. What a glamorous way to die, covered in blood next to a pile of vomit. She breathed in the fresh air and rocked herself to the opposite direction off the vomit laying on her back. Hailey sighed gently looking at the stars, feeling the world spin and fade away from her into a black abyss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy ya'll, thanks for sticking around and still reading this flaming trash can. I'm still writing just at a slower pace. I post updates on my tumblr when I am/am not writing. URL is thebowlcut. Check it.


	21. Ring of Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming back from the Glowing Sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry for being a piece of shit and not updating in months, here's 5k words to make up for it. 
> 
> Song by Johnny Cash.

The last thing Danse saw was Hailey’s finger moving to the trigger as tears ran freely down her face. Danse exhaled slowly and closed his eyes, no longer fighting Hailey, no longer fighting anything. It felt nice in the back of his mind, to just give up and let go. Danse’s head was constantly filled with thoughts, and it was beginning to drive him insane. He was burnt out, becoming sloppy in the field; his judgement calls were starting to worry him, and he was off his game.

The shot rang out and cut through Hailey’s soft sob, but no pain came. Danse opened his eyes and saw her crying softly, gripping Righteous Authority in her hands. He turned his head to the left and looked at the black burn on the wall from the rifle.

“Don’t follow me.” She said quietly as she turned and left Danse alone. He pushed himself off the wall and heard Hailey jump into her power armor and tromp out of the cave entirely. Danse calmly walked over to his rifle and scooped it off the floor. Hailey was crazy if she thought that he wouldn’t follow her. Arthur would kill him if anything happened to her, and the guilt would overwhelm and eventually consume Danse himself. He raced to his power armor and hopped in. The armor wasn’t in bad shape, considering their fight with the deathclaw earlier.

Danse’s stomach dropped as he thought of Hailey’s armor. The grenade had blown a hole in the leg of it, and he’d bet caps on the fact that she didn’t check it before she took off. Her adrenaline could only get her so far before she eventually collapsed due to exhaustion, radiation poisoning, or blood loss. Danse had enough Rad-Away and stimpacks to stabilize her until Zane could be there in the vertibird stationed at Waypoint Echo.

Danse emerged from the cave just in time to see Hailey duck behind the corner at the bottom of the valley and head back the way they came. He jogged until she was in his sights again, then watched her scan the wasteland for any potential threats. He smiled behind his helmet, elated with pride to see at least some of his training stuck with her. The conditioning seemed to come in handy as she was able to jog almost the entire way.

Danse’s mind wandered as he kept an eye on her. She was so different from the other recruits and it bothered him to no end; she constantly befriended ghouls and synths, worked with The Railroad behind the Elder’s back. She disrespected the simplest of Brotherhood ideals but for some reason, was an amazing soldier nonetheless. He cringed remembering the way she had cried and yelled at him back in the cave. A bizarre ache echoed in his chest as he pictured the distraught look on her face as she knelt by the body of the mutant.

Danse had shot the mutant before he could stop himself out of pure reflex. He didn’t regret it; super mutants were unstable, no matter how intelligent they were. Danse thought back to what the mutant had said about a cure in The Institute. A cure for the FEV virus… The Brotherhood needed that, if only they would have found it before Cutler. Danse would be an entirely different person, no longer carrying the weight of that tragedy on his back, no longer trying to drink the pain away in his cabin. The months after Cutler only developed his hate for non-human species.

Hailey had shown him that not all could be bad, but being in that close of quarters with one of his personal fears like that made him more on edge than anything ever could. Danse honestly felt pity for the mutant, he’d never let her know that though.

They passed the crater where the Children of Atom resided, and Hailey began to develop a limp in her jog. She slowed down considerably, but kept going. He was impressed by her pure resolution to make it out alone. She really was a force to be reckoned with. Danse could see why Maxson had wanted her in the first place. She was a valuable ally even though she was up to her neck in hot water and would continue to be as soon as Maxson found out about the mutant. It would raise questions about her loyalty as a member of the Brotherhood and Arthur could snap at any moment.

Danse paused as Hailey stopped and he could see her inspecting the damaged leg of her power armor. He could see her move slightly forward as if she was retching, and a bolt of nervous energy went through him. How much radiation had she absorbed through her wounds? Enough to give her radiation sickness? The answer became apparent when she walked slowly over to a log on the ground and sat down. She stayed still for a small moment in time, then looked up at the sky. Danse copied her and realized he could see the night sky looking down at him. They had to be close to the freeway, close to being out of this hell hole.

Danse started to step forward towards her but stopped in his tracks as he saw her stand up. Hailey swayed as she continued to push on, he knew she didn’t have much left but Danse had to see how far she could make it without him. Every nerve in his body wanted to reach out and run towards her and let her lean against him so Danse could drag them out of the mist and back to a safe point. He heard a sharp cry as he saw her hit the ground, and he decided that enough was enough.

Danse ran towards her and came upon her body, shocked to see she had removed her power armor helmet to vomit on the ground. He grabbed her roughly by the hooks of her armor and shook her vigorously.

“Hailey! Stay with me, stay awake.” He pleaded, and her eyes fluttered open and she smiled slightly.

“Nate…” She rasped weakly. “You’ve come to save me.” Danse grimaced behind his helmet, hearing Hailey mistake him for her deceased husband.

“Yep, Hailey we’re gonna go home, I need to know if you can walk or not.” Danse said in a soft voice. She shook her head and started to close her eyes again. “Hey! Stay with me.” He shook her again.

“Where’s Shaun?” Hailey said, in the same weak voice as before. “He was just here with me.”

“He’s waiting for us up ahead, I’m gonna have to drag you. It’s probably going to hurt but stay with me okay? Don’t leave me alone out here.” Danse said bending down by her ear, whispering the words to her. “Keep talking to me Hailey, stay awake.” He stood by her head and bent down again to hook his hands under her arms and he began to pull her along slowly.

“You remember that time in the park?” She said, laughing softly. She groaned as Danse began to drag her, but she kept talking. “I’m pretty sure that’s how Shaun got here, it feels like so long ago.” Danse could feel heat creep into his face but ignored it in favor of struggling to tug her over the rough land.

“You know Nate, I’ve missed you so much. I feel so lost without you here…” Hailey mumbled again, her eyes fluttering. Danse had to speak back to her, had to say something.

“I miss you too Hailey… I’m here now.” Danse said as he heaved her onto the cracked pavement. He felt a twinge of guilt speaking as Nate but if it kept her awake and alert, he’d keep doing it. He’d do anything for her, and guilt surged through his body again as he thought about stepping in earlier to help her, how that would have made a difference.

“We should go on a vacation, we can leave Shaun with my parents, they won’t mind.” She croaked as Danse drug her past a couple of rusted cars. “I loved going to Maine with you before you deployed. It was so beautiful.”

“Tell me all about it, Hailey.” Danse said softly, stopping for a small moment underneath the ancient overpass. Every muscle in his body felt sore and they screamed in protest as he kept dragging her down the road. She mumbled quietly explaining the beach, the trees. All the time she had spent with Nate in Maine, reminiscing. When Danse looked down at Hailey, she had a small smile on her face and kept fighting to hold her eyes open. The air cleared around them and he could hear the Geiger on her Pip-Boy finally stop clicking.

“Okay Hailey, I have to get you out of the armor, I’m going to turn you onto your stomach. Help me if you can.” Danse said as he knelt next to her, grabbing her arm and leg furthest from him.

“Sure, it’s the armor you want me to get out of. I totally believe you.” Hailey said, coughing weakly and winking at Danse. She yelped as she felt the metal grind against her leg when she was finally on her stomach, then went quiet. Danse fumbled with the release on the back of her armor and it hissed and opened around her. He stood up frantically, releasing himself out of his own armor, all while watching her body shudder with shallow breaths.

As soon as his feet hit the pavement he pulled out a vertibird signal grenade, saying a silent prayer as the blue smoke rose into the sky. Danse grabbed his med kit and tossed it onto the ground next to Hailey’s armor. He then bent and swooped her gently out of the armor and laid her on the ground next to the med kit. Her eyes were shut, and she had stopped talking.

“Hailey, wake up.” He pleaded quietly while he fumbled with a bag of Rad-Away. He pulled up the arm of her jumpsuit to find a vein, and pressed the needle in as gently as possible. Danse flinched out of reflex, expecting her to snap out of it and swear at him like she always did, but instead Hailey stayed quiet. He held the bag of Rad-Away up as his other hand searched for her pulse on her neck. Danse could see her chest rising and falling, but her pulse was weak and dangerously low. He looked to the horizon in the direction of Waypoint Echo hoping to spot the vertibird piloted by the loud mouth lancer, but only the stars twinkled back at him.

Danse withdrew his hand from Hailey’s neck and shifted his attention from the Rad-Away to Hailey’s leg. Her jumpsuit was in tatters around her calf and the front of her shin had started to bleed profusely again. He fumbled around the bag of Rad-Away which was almost empty, and dug for a stimpack with his free hand. He looked again to the horizon and was pleased to see the outline of a vertibird speeding towards the smoke.

As the bird raced towards them, Danse administered the stim to Hailey’s leg and sighed in relief at the sign of the bleeding slowing down. He held his breath once again as he pulled out the small bottle of alcohol and dumped some onto the gauze in his hand. He removed the IV line from the Rad-Away, dabbing gently with the gauze. He repeated his silent prayer, hoping any god would listen. He turned towards her leg, pouring some of the alcohol directly onto the wound, causing Hailey to stir.

As she moved slowly, Danse held her hand trying to monitor her leg at the same time. He could see her mouth moving and he leaned forward slowly trying to decipher the whispers. The vertibird was too loud to here her though, and he could feel a hand on his back. Danse turned around and had to hold back a smile when he saw the pain in the ass lancer.

“DANSE, WE GOTTA GO! MOVE!” Zane roared at him over the sound of the bird. Haylen gave Danse a gentle pat as she moved swiftly by him to crouch down by Hailey. She pointed to Danse then to Hailey and he nodded in response. Danse leaned forward and swooped Hailey up into his arms again and he was pleased to see Hailey reach for him reflexively. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled herself closer to him.

“WE’LL COME BACK FOR THE ARMOR LATER!” Zane yelled as they made their way onto the bird. Danse sat with Hailey, hoping for a safe ride back to the Prydwen.

Danse felt his anxiety climb again when he thought of Arthur, specifically what he was going to even say; this mission was the second time Danse had let Hailey get hurt under his command. He didn’t blame Hailey for getting angry and attacking him in the cave. Arthur would be less empathetic towards her, and he couldn’t find out about her alliances with The Railroad. Danse began to plot against Arthur for the first time since he joined up as the Prydwen came into view.

They landed roughly, and Danse felt Hailey flinch against his chest. He drug his gaze upwards from her and felt his stomach drop. Maxson, Cade, and a team of scribes were waiting for them, just as they had done when Danse brought Hailey back from Fort Strong. Arthur wasn’t the type to give third chances and his face was stone as Danse climbed out of the bird. Danse stepped up to the gurney the scribes had brought to him and he set Hailey down gently.

“Danse. With me, now.” Maxson said calmly as he turned from Danse and strode up the stairs towards the meeting deck on the Prydwen. Once they were on the deck, Maxson waved out a few squires and guards from the room. He began to pace back and forth in front of the large windows.

“Want to explain yourself, Paladin?” Maxson voice was low, and shook with anger. “How is it every time I trust you with a recruit, something happens? Especially with this recruit…” He paused in his pacing to rub his hand across his forehead.

“Well, The Glowing Sea is a highly unstable and unpredictable location. We knew this from the start, Elder.” Danse said quietly.

“Tell me something I don’t know Paladin. Should you even be called that anymore? You can’t keep Hailey safe, you couldn’t keep your squad safe… Why should I still have you in command?” Maxson said, his unfeeling blue eyes boring into Danse.

“To be fair sir, these missions were exploratory. I feel like your relationship with Knight Miller is clouding your judgement.” Danse raised his voice, standing up straight. He wouldn’t allow himself to be held to impossible standards just because the Elder was a jealous man. As soon as Danse was done speaking, Arthur was chest to chest with him, his eyes flashing dangerously.

“Really, _my_ relationship _?_ Should I elaborate on _your_ relationship with Knight Miller?” He spoke in low tones, holding his head high. “You’ve gotten soft with her Danse, and everyone can see it. You aren’t as hard on her as you should be, not nearly as strict. I gave you a chance to back off of what’s mine, and you still can’t shut yourself away from her.”

“Hailey isn’t some object to fight over, Arthur, you can’t play with her head like that, control her every move. She’s too strong willed.” Danse clenched his fists as he spoke. “If you want her to fight for our cause, you can’t be strict with her. She’s a loose cannon, and her motives are not the same as ours.”

“Her motives? Her son, you mean. Yes, she is searching for her son. It’s only a matter of time before I can convince her to leave that in the dust. It’s been two hundred years, it won’t be difficult.” Arthur smiled widely, causing Danse to almost step back.

“I won’t let you take advantage of her feelings like that, you don’t deserve her.” Danse said, stepping closer to Maxson, his fists clenched tight. “I’ll protect her from you until my last breath.”

“Stand down, Danse. She isn’t worth it.” Arthur said dangerously.

“Or what Arthur? Are you going to tell her some made up bullshit, to sway her back into your arms? She’s already starting to pull away from you.” Danse said, laughing at the man in front of him. Arthur snarled in response and struck Danse across the face. Danse immediately recoiled, and stepped back from Arthur. He could taste blood in his mouth and he spit a red stream of it onto the floor.

“Get out, get your things and go back to the police station.” Arthur barked at him. Danse took a deep breath and nodded. Maxson wasn’t worth hitting back, he’d eventually get what was coming to him.

-0o0-

Hailey awoke abruptly in a cold sweat. Her head felt foggy as she looked around in the dark room. _The med bay_ , she thought to herself. Somehow, she made it out of The Glowing Sea and back to the Prydwen. Hailey tried to think back but all she could remember is leaving the cave after nearly killing Danse. She tried to call out, but her mouth was dry. She scanned the room again, spotting a water glass next to her bed. Hailey drank the water slowly, feeling her throat come back to life.

“H..Hello?” She called out into the dark. She could hear the rustling of papers and saw Cade emerge out of his office.

“Hailey, you’re awake… how do you feel?” He said, walking to her bedside and picking up a clipboard.

“Really foggy.” She coughed and cleared her throat. “Not sore from what I can tell.”

“You had severe radiation poisoning. You also had a large wound on your leg, but it’s healed up nicely.” He stepped towards the end of her bed and lifted the blankets back. Hailey inhaled sharply at the new pink scar that zig-zagged from her knee to ankle.

“God damn… Can I go for just a month without picking up a new cut or scar in this damn place?” She sighed leaning back into her pillows, as Cade pressed his lips together with a concerned look on his face.

“Really, you’re lucky you didn’t die. I went through several Rad-Aways trying to bring you back to full consciousness, so I’m pleased to see you’re finally awake.” He smiled at Hailey and placed the clipboard back down. “The Elder requested to be notified as to when you woke up.” He began to turn as from Hailey but stopped when she called out.

“Wait, let him sleep. Where’s Danse?” She asked, fidgeting with a small string on a blanket that was laid over her.

“Paladin Danse was reassigned to the police station in Cambridge three days ago. All of his belongings were moved there also, so I don’t believe he will be returning.” Cade said with a sad tone. “The Elder made it very clear that he wanted to be here when you first woke up, excuse me.” Cade disappeared into the hallway and his footsteps faded.

“Fuck… the police station? What happened?” Hailey said aloud to herself. She leaned back into her pillows trying to catch her breath and clear her head before Arthur appeared in the room. Not even two minutes had passed before Arthur stormed into the room wearing dark gray sweatpants and a white tank top, his normally smooth hair ruffled from sleep. He almost jogged to her bedside and gently grabbed her hand.

“Hailey, you’re okay. Thank god, I thought I had lost you…” Arthur said, pressing her hand to his lips gently. Her stomach jerked uncomfortably as he made eye contact with her and his eyes were cold. Something was wrong, and Hailey could feel the nervous energy radiating from his body.

“Can’t get rid of me that easily.” She said softly, trying to disguise her concern for a warm, loving energy.

“What happened out there? Tell me all about it.” Arthur said, his tone pleading with her. She frowned slightly in response.

“Paladin Danse didn’t give you a mission report?” Hailey said curiously. Arthur shifted in the chair next to her bed and dodged her eyes.

“We didn’t… get that far.” He said quietly. Hailey breathed in relief, Danse hadn’t ratted her out before Arthur managed to lose his temper and send him away to the police station. She reached out to touch his hand.

“Is everything okay?” Hailey asked. “I know it’s tough to see me like this, and I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ve just been anxious since you left. I couldn’t stop thinking something bad had happened… at least my instincts were on point.” Arthur said, exhaling heavily. “I care about you a lot, Hailey. I want to hear what happened.”

Hailey described what the Glowing Sea contained in terms of landscape, landmarks and hostile life. Arthur’s eyes widened when she told him about the crater and who resided there. At the mention of the cult, his eyes flashed with curiosity, but he remained quiet.

“After we talked to the Children of Atom, we headed towards the direction they said Virgil had come from multiple times. We found a cave but were attacked by a deathclaw.” Hailey said, fumbling with the loose threads on her blanket. “Danse saved my life with a grenade, but that also destroyed my power armor. He dragged me to safety in a small cave.”

Hailey paused, searching Arthur’s face. The young man had leaned forward, his eyes sharp and bright with intrigue. She could see that he wasn’t lying about sending Danse away before he had a chance to hear what happened. Hailey knew what she had to do to protect her cover and to guarantee she wasn’t imprisoned or punished for attacking Danse.

“Danse administered a couple of stimpacks, and we noticed the cave was a lot bigger than at first pass. I had time to recover for a few minutes, then we explored the cave further.” Hailey sighed, as her brain raced to stay ahead of her mouth while she lied to Arthur. “We came into a small room with turrets that weren’t hostile, and that room lead to a larger opening where we found what seemed to be a makeshift lab. Virgil was there, but he had been dead for some time. It looked as if Kellogg or the Institute reached him before we could.” Hailey’s voice wavered as she started to cry softly. Arthur reached out and grabbed her hands squeezing them gently.

“Hailey… did you find anything on the Institute? How to get in? Who they are, anything? Did you search his papers at all?” Arthur’s voice was strained, so close to what he wanted. Words began to spill out of him. “He had to have something, that’s where he came from, god damn it! There had to be-” 

“Arthur! How could you be so inconsiderate? I just lost the last chance of finding my son!” Hailey sobbed freely now, tears running down her face.

“You need to remember where your loyalties lie, _knight._ ” Arthur spat her rank at her, full of spite. Hailey recoiled as she pulled her hands out of his embrace.

“My loyalties lie with my family, that’s been very clear from the start.” Hailey cleared her throat and wiped tears off her face.

“I knew that from when I heard your story and saw your husband in the vault. It was made very clear to me. I thought that eventually your mind would shift, and you’d see that you didn’t need them anymore, that you’d need the Brotherhood, need _me._ ” He exhaled roughly, and continued. “I was hoping you’d move on, grow stronger without them. They only hold you back.” Maxson paused and rubbed his forehead, casting his gaze to the floor. When he stopped and looked back at her again, his eyes showed no emotion, no regret. In that moment, Hailey’s stomach and mind calmed as she realized what had to be done.

“I will _never_ stop searching for my son, for Shaun. I will _never_ give up! You’re demented if you thin-” Hailey was cut off by a sharp pain in her jaw and a slap rang out through the room.

“Let me make this clear, Knight Miller. I will never _ever_ be spoken to with such disrespect again.” Maxson stood as Hailey gingerly touched her face. “Especially by you, the woman out of time. Someone I thought I could trust and love.” He turned from her as she began to cry again.

“Don’t embarrass yourself with weakness, I no longer feel pity towards you.” Arthur said darkly as he strode out of the med bay, slamming the door behind him.

Hailey sat in silence, gently rocking herself back and forth as she cried. She spotted a radio out of the corner of her eye and she slowly reached over to flip it on. The radio blared to life and she scrambled to turn the volume down. She cast a quick glance towards Cade’s office door. Hailey listened intently, making sure she didn’t wake up the doctor. A few moments passed in silence, she decided the coast was clear and began to sob violently. Her body felt as if breath had left it and was never returning to her lungs. She gasped for air in between her sobs, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Hailey felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder and she flinched away from it.

“Hailey… are you okay?” The doctor’s soft voice came from over the sound of the music. “Let me look at you.” Cade grabbed her face gently, turning it to the dim light. “Did he do this to you?” Cade muttered as he squinted as the bruising blossoming on her pale skin. “It’s okay, you can tell me… sadly you wouldn’t be the first.” As Hailey continued to cry and remained silent, Cade rose from her bedside. He returned with a can of water, and a sheet of paper.

“Do you have a Geiger counter?” He said so quietly, Hailey wasn’t sure if he had even spoke at all. She blinked a couple of times as Cade said nothing.

“Ex-excuse me?” Hailey said through her tears. Cade fiddled with the note in his hand then looked directly into Hailey’s eyes and repeated himself.

“I said, do you have a Geiger counter?” He smiled warmly at her and handed her the paper which had a rail sign for ally on it. She gasped as her eyes scanned the paper, and she began to wipe the tears from her face.

“Mine’s in the shop, I’m sorry.” She replied quietly, still looking at the paper.

“We need to get you out of here, Charmer.” Cade said, watching the med bay door intently. “Maxson won’t be back tonight but he will be back sometime tomorrow, but you’ll be long gone.” Hailey’s mind raced as she saw Cade in a different light.

“How long have you been here?” Hailey asked, her head spinning.

“Too long, but I’ll go into more details later. Here’s the plan, don’t interrupt. You’re going to Diamond City with a late supply run, I’ve already found transport. From there you’re going to run as fast as possible to the police station in Cambridge and show Danse what happened.” Cade explained quickly as he stood up and began to shove supplies into Hailey’s bag.

“Danse… doesn’t he hate me?” Hailey said hesitantly. “I almost killed him after all.”

“Quite the opposite, but now isn’t the time for that talk either. Don’t interrupt.” Cade said sternly as he dodged Hailey’s eyes, continuing to scramble around the bay with her bag. “Besides, any anger or contempt will fade when he sees your face… it’s quite bruised.” Cade walked to the med door, Hailey’s bag slung over his shoulder. “I’ll be right back, if anyone opens the door, pretend you’re asleep. I’ll knock twice before I come back in.” He disappeared, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Hailey took a moment to clear her head and take a couple of deep breaths. What would she even say to Danse? Would she even make it in time? She hadn’t even stood since waking up so who knew how sore her leg would be from the Glowing Sea. She jumped as two light knocks came from the door and Cade raced over to her bed. He paused for a short moment, looking down at the blue fabric in his arms then passed it to Hailey. She took the General’s outfit into her hands, grateful to feel the heavy coat in her arms once again.

“I think I got everything, your bunk is cleaned out and I stopped by your power armor and grabbed these.” Cade said, setting down her rifles and the silenced 10mm. He picked up the 10mm and looked at it more closely. “Tommy loved this thing, I’m glad it went to you…” He trailed off as a pained look crossed his face.

Hailey rose from the bed slowly, carefully putting weight down onto her leg. She was pleased to find out that there was no immediate pain, instead just a sore, dull ache. She began to pull off the hospital gown as Cade stepped into his office to give her some privacy. She braided her hair back, a few strands hanging down around her face and pulled on the General hat. She almost smiled thinking about how much she had originally hated the hat, how it had felt like such a costume piece. Now, she embraced it fully, no matter how weird it was. She finally felt at home in the blue coat and custom combat armor, like she could take on the world. Hailey didn’t realize how much she missed that feeling and how she let the Brotherhood take that out of her. She jumped slightly as she heard Cade clear his throat and close his office door.

“Alright, I’ve arranged a bird to take you to Diamond City, the pilot is another agent with the Railroad, one of the best undercover agents we have. They’re risking a lot to take you. They’ll drop you outside of city limits. Go to the police station, then back to Sanctuary. There’s someone waiting for you there.” Cade passed Hailey her guns and stayed silent as she slung the rifles across her back and fastened the 10mm into her thigh holster. She took a deep breath in and felt Cade’s hand on her upper arm.

“He won’t hurt you again. Not while I’m here.” Cade said quietly, giving her his signature soft smile. “Alright, let’s get you out of here.” Cade lead her to the doorway and walked her out to the Prydwen’s outer deck.

The wind whipped around them as they passed the guard in power armor who grunted a greeting. Hailey could see the bird in one of the bays, and she began to speed up at the sight of it. She stopped for a moment before walking down the small platform to the bird. Hailey looked out to the Commonwealth, scanning the horizon in the night sky. On the Prydwen, everything looked so peaceful, so quiet. On the ground it was another story, but the story that Hailey lived for. The wasteland had taken everything from her, but she was determined to not let that stop her. She belonged on the ground, working with the settlers, farmhands, and traders. Not sheltered and kept away in the sky. Hailey took a deep breath, cherishing this feeling as she began to walk down the platform to her freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cade as a sleeper agent was something that was decided on last minute. I just love how I wrote him in the earlier chapters so I needed more, hope it worked.


	22. We Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey escapes the Brotherhood and goes home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by The Ink Spots.

Hailey’s boots clinked lightly on the steel platform as she walked towards the vertibird; towards her freedom. She turned back to look at Cade one more time and was greeted with his signature warm smile and a wink. Hailey returned the smile, wincing slightly at the pain in her jaw. She continued her path towards the end of the walkway, biting back a laugh at the sight she was greeted with inside the cockpit of the bird.

“DUN, DUN, DUUUUUUN!” Zane yelled over the sound of the wind as Hailey grinned at the ‘agent’ that was helping her escape. “What a fucking plot twist, huh? Cade and I both in the Railroad… life is really like that sometimes. Anyways, I’m out of dramatic phrases. Let’s make like a tree and get the fuck out of here.”

“Yeah, should’ve seen that one coming.” Hailey said as she settled into the other pilot’s seat in the cockpit.

“Rocking the classic outfit, I see. I love it, _General._ ” Zane said, gliding his hands over the controls of the bird, flipping the right switches to take off. They disconnected with a loud groaning and began their journey towards Diamond City. Hailey frantically adjusted the volume on her headset before Zane could start screaming into it.

“So, in true, bad-ass fashion, I will be coming with you. There’s another agent waiting to return the bird back to the ship. He’s just outside of the city limits.” Zane explained as his voice crackled through the headset. Hailey nodded in response, absent mindedly fiddling with the hem of her overcoat. “Hey… don’t be nervous man, we got this.” Hailey came out of the mild daze she was in as Zane’s voice warbled over the headset, calm as ever. Zane smiled at her and continued to look out the front of the bird as they passed some larger buildings.

They landed south of Diamond City, right by the pond where Hailey, Nick, and Dogmeat found Kellogg’s cigars. Hailey unbuckled herself and climbed out the bird, her feet slamming to the ground. She pulled her rifle from her back and quickly swept the area while Zane talked to the other lancer. They chatted for a few minutes, then shook hands. Zane strode over to Hailey and they watched the bird disappear into the buildings, back to where they had come from. They began at a fast walk, their pace eventually turning into a jog. Hailey lead Zane to the railroad tracks and followed them to the west.

They occasionally came across a feral dog or mole rat, which quickly met their ends. Hailey breathed a small sigh of relief and Zane relaxed slightly next to her as the white rail tower of Oberland Station appeared on the horizon. Hailey and Zane slowed to a walk as they neared the entrance to the settlement.

“Hey Henry! It’s just us, how are you tonight?” Hailey called to the man posted on the edge of the small settlement.

“Oh, not too bad, General!” Henry said back, straightening his posture and returning her smile. He continued to look out to the horizon in the direction they had come from.

“Why aren’t you that nice to me?” Zane whispered as they moved through the settlement.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Hailey said, raising one of her eyebrows while scanning Zane over. He laughed loudly, and Hailey punched his arm. “Hey! It’s late, shut the hell up.” She shook her head, laughing quietly while Zane rubbed his bicep. When they reached the end of the settlement, Hailey looked over her shoulder, scanning her gaze over the landscape.

“Like you have time to fix anything anyways.” Zane remarked as they continued through the gate to the outside of the settlement.

“Never hurts. Besides it’s just a reflex that Preston nearly beat into me.” Hailey replied as they crossed the bridge into the northern half of the Commonwealth. The rest of the walk was quiet apart from Zane occasionally swearing and tripping over the gravel and broken asphalt. The police station grew larger, along with the knot of anxiety in Hailey’s stomach.

They nodded at the Brotherhood soldier in power armor, who stood on the upper level of the compound. The police station had been patched up and defenses improved since the arrival of the Prydwen in the Commonwealth. Haylen worked nonstop on repairs, passing her learnings onto Preston and Sturges for the settlements. Zane stepped through the worn out blue door of the station, holding it open for Hailey. As she stepped through the door, Hailey removed her hat and hung it on the hook by the door. She ran her hand through her hair in a poor attempt to calm it.

The duo made their way up the stairs and into the main room of the police station to the right. Haylen was hunched over the keys of her terminal, typing furiously. She didn’t turn and acknowledge their presence until Hailey cleared her throat loudly. Haylen swiveled her chair in their direction, an annoyed look on her face. When she realized who was standing in front of her, the wave of annoyance passed and shock replaced it.

“H-Hailey? Zane? What are you guys doing here? It’s almost one in the morning!” Haylen stuttered as she began to bombard the pair with questions.

“Where’s Danse?” Was all Hailey could manage to say as she stepped closer to Haylen. Haylen scanned Hailey’s face, focusing on the bruising.

“He’s in the back office to the left…” Haylen trailed off into silence as she reached out towards Hailey. Hailey turned quickly and headed towards the office before she lost her nerve. She could hear Zane whispering to Haylen in a low tone as she walked away. Hailey reached the red door and took a deep breath before reaching out to knock quietly. There was a short pause, and Hailey’s heart fluttered in her chest.

“Come in.”

-0o0-

 

Danse pounded at the keys, logging another mission report into his personal files. Hailey crossed his mind yet again; it had been a day and she hadn’t radioed for him. His thoughts nagged him as he continued to write, trying to pressure himself into asking Haylen if she had heard anything. Standing up from his metal desk, he paced the back of the room, arguing with his internal thoughts. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes and exhaled slowly. As he came to a stop at the desk, he threw himself back into the chair, which squeaked in protest. He began to type again, faster than usual, trying to push her out of his head. Just as Danse finished his report he heard a light knock on the door. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall, his eyes narrowing as he realized it was almost one in the morning. Danse quickly racked his mind on who would be knocking on the office door this late, and who he settled on made his stomach lurch.

“Come in.” He said just loud enough to be heard through the door. He held his breath as the door handle rattled and it swung open. A wave of anger crashed over Danse as he scanned her face, eyes settling on her jaw. He immediately stood up from the desk, the chair clanging loudly against the wall behind him. Hailey flinched as he stepped near her, and he stopped in his tracks.

“What happened.” Danse growled through gritted teeth, looking at her jaw. It was purple, almost black in some spots. His heart sank as he saw Hailey began to shake silently, and before he could restrain himself he stepped forward, pulling her into a tight hug as she started to sob loudly. Danse held her up while she cried and when she began to quiet he gave her a little squeeze and stepped back, not fully releasing the hug. Hailey’s eyes stared into his own as he ran his hand up her back, to her face. Danse softly ran his thumb over the bruising, dragging his eyes away from hers as he zeroed back in on the painful, purple splotching.  

“I’ll kill him.” He muttered as he slowly brought his eyes back to hers.

“He’s not worth it.” Hailey whispered. “He’s not really worth anything, I should have never given him the time of day.”

“I’m so sorry this happened Hailey, I should have stayed on the Prydwen… fought him harder than I did.” Danse said softly, pulling her closer to him. “He’ll never lay so much as finger on you ever again.”

“Don’t apologize, Danse, it’s not your fault. Besides, no one knew that would boil down like that.” Hailey pulled herself back to look at Danse again. “I’m leaving the Brotherhood.” Danse tightened his lips and nodded slowly.

“I don’t blame you. What about the trade lines with the Prydwen?” Danse brushed his fingers through Hailey’s hair absent mindedly. “What about…” He trailed off, too nervous to complete his question about his feelings towards Hailey.

“I’m leaving the supply lines alone. He can have it for all I care.” Hailey furrowed her brow. “What about what? What about you?” Danse nodded slowly. “Well… I realize it’s a lot to ask, but I was hoping you’d come with me.” Hailey said with a hint of a smile on her lips. “I know you’ve been in the Brotherhood for a long time, but the Minut-”

“Of course, I will. Without a doubt.” Danse said matter-of-factly. “When do we leave?”

“Now.” Hailey hesitated for a moment before quickly kissing Danse on the cheek. “Thank you for understanding.” She strode out of the office leaving Danse to stand in a haze. He took a moment to breathe deeply and collect his thoughts before gathering up his things in the office, shoving everything into a rucksack. Danse joined Haylen, Hailey, and Zane in the lobby of the police station. Hailey hugged Haylen goodbye and they smiled slightly at each other as their gazes drifted towards Danse. Hailey looked away quickly when their eyes met, and she hooked Zane by the arm and moved towards the stairs. Danse pulled Haylen aside while Hailey and Zane walked ahead of them.

“I’m going with her, Haylen. Something in my gut tells me this is the right thing to do.” Danse sighed as Haylen’s eyes searched his face. “I had this feeling when I watched Cutler leave for the last time. I can’t afford to make that mistake again, not with her… The Brotherhood is all I’ve known, but Hailey… Haylen, she makes me want to know more, and she makes me want to experience anything and everything with her. I can’t lose her… not like…” Danse trailed off into silence. Haylen gave him a sympathetic look and stepped forward to wrap her arms around his large frame. They stood there for a moment, and eventually separated. Danse’s throat started to burn and he cleared it, blinking back emotion.

“Danse, I think this is the right move for you. This won’t be the last time we see each other but it’s the last time you’ll walk out those door as a member of the Brotherhood…” Haylen took a deep breath and steadied her voice. “Maxson won’t let you come back as soon as he knows you’re with her.” Danse grimaced, thinking of the bridge he was burning by walking out.

“In the back of my mind, I was already prepared for that… Honestly, I think it’s worth it.” Danse remarked, smiling slightly as Hailey appeared in his head. “Anything is worth it for her. That being said, I think it’s time to go. Tell Rhys what happened, and if you guys need to find us, you know where we’ll be. I’m leaving the power armor; it goes to the next Paladin. I’m not taking anything Maxson could bitch about other than the jumpsuit.”

“I have an inside connection, I’ll always be able to find you guys.” Haylen said, winking at Danse. She paused for a moment before snapping into a salute. “Ad Victoriam Paladin.”

“Ad Victoriam Scribe.” Danse returned the salute and turned towards the door.

-0o0-

Hailey and Zane jumped slightly when Danse walked out of the police station. Hailey was shocked to see he didn’t have his power armor, just a jumpsuit and a bomber jacket. She thought about making a comment but saw no use in bringing it up so soon. Zane raised his eyebrows at her as they exchanged looks.

“Let’s get going, shall we? I’m tired of standing still.” Zane said with a laugh as they moved towards the side exit. The knight on guard simply grunted in acknowledgement as they swung the gate shut behind them.

The trek to Sanctuary seemed to get shorter every time they walked it, but it gave time for Hailey to think to herself while Danse and Zane patrolled either side of her. She checked the watch on her Pip-Boy, 1:30 a.m. She yawned and chuckled to herself as Zane and Danse copied her, with Zane flipping her off as he yawned but remained quiet. Hailey sighed as her thoughts ran rampant in her head. She could never control where they went, especially when it came to the past. She kept replaying the vault and finding Nate over and over again in her head. Her sweet Nate shot in cold blood, for no reason. They easily could have subdued him, but it was easier just to kill him. After being out of the vault for so long, Hailey could see why they immediately killed him. The wasteland had turned people into demons, death was an everyday thing, just like murder, theft, and other crimes. Whatever people felt necessary to survive was free game. The thought process made sense on paper, but Hailey felt jumbled and torn on the inside.

Her thoughts lurched, and her head cleared as she tripped over a crack in the road. She felt Danse reach out and grab her before she could go ass over tea kettle. He straightened her with ease and they continued to walk further north, past the Corvega factory. They crept around, staying in the shadows and keeping a constant eye on the outer factory scaffolding. Hailey could see the outline of raiders pacing back and forth on the roof, rifles in hand.

She finally let out a large breath as they passed the Super Duper Mart and broke free into the barren wasteland once again. Danse raised a thick eyebrow at her and she shook her head in response.

“ _Almost home_.” He mouthed at her with a soft smile.

“ _Finally_.” She replied silently back, and Danse laughed, earning him a bizarre stare from Zane. Hailey looked off to the east and could see the lights from Starlight Drive-In and her shoulders relaxed. The closer she got to Sanctuary, the more her body subconsciously released the tension and stress of running from Maxson.

They rounded the corner and started walking up the small inclined hill towards Red Rocket and Hailey grinned at the strings of lights hanging from the carport cover. The station was dark on the inside and Hailey made her way through the parking lot, stepping over the occasional chunk of asphalt that was too heavy for her to move.

“Hang on guys, I have to grab some stuff.” Hailey said as she walked through the side door of the station. Her hands shook slightly as she reached for the light switch haphazardly mounted on the wall. Hailey strode through the gas station, picturing her memories of this place from pre-war and post-war. If she tried hard enough she could see Nate standing at the counter, cigarette tucked behind his ear. He looked over his shoulder at her, a perfect lopsided smile appeared on his face when his eyes met hers. Hailey smiled back, and her heart ached as he faded into nothingness.

Hailey cleared her throat, which had begun to burn, and moved quickly towards the back office. She pilfered through the drawers grabbing more ammo, and clothing for Sanctuary since she’d be closely guarded and most likely not allowed to stay at Red Rocket for a while. She hoisted the duffle bag onto her shoulder and let her mind drifting again, painting the image of Nate walking through the mini mart and out the door towards Danse and Zane. Hailey followed Nate to the pair, and stopped when she reached them. Nate continued onwards to Sanctuary, looking back at Hailey and winking before dissolving into thin air again.

“Hey, Hailey? Get everything?” Zane inquired, waving a hand in front of her face. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Hailey lifted the bag from her shoulder. “Got it.”

“Let me.” Danse said, grabbing the duffle before Hailey could protest. “You’re welcome.” He winked at her and laughed.

“Who are you and what have you done with hard ass Danse?” Zane said, gawking at the back of Danse’s head as they crossed over the bridge into Sanctuary. “Good, ignore me! I definitely don’t care! What’s emotion, anyways!” Zane yelled to Danse’s back. Zane scoffed as Danse waved him off, clutching his chest with fake hurt.

“Shut up you idiot.” Hailey said to Zane who continued to act shocked and hurt as their boots hit the wood of the bridge. She laughed at Zane as they crossed, but fell quiet as the guard tower at the entry to Sanctuary came into view. Hailey let out a small sigh of relief and smiled wide at the figure stationed at the guard post. The unique colonial hat turned then retreated down the stairs, and just as Hailey reached the pavement, Preston rounded the side of the guard tower, sweeping her into his signature bear hug.

“Haylen radioed after you left the station.” Preston said against the side of her head, still not releasing her. “Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” Hailey sniffed a couple of times, blinking back tears of relief from seeing one of her closest friends and colonel.

“Tomorrow… later today, whatever. I’m too tired to even think about it. Where did Danse go?” Hailey whispered into his heavy overcoat. They stood there for a moment longer, Preston squeezed her tighter then released, stepping away. Hailey wiped the corner of her eye, surprised to see Preston doing the same.

“He went to take your stuff to your old place.” Preston replied, gesturing in that general direction. He turned towards Zane shaking his hand with fervor.

“Glad to see you here man. I got a house just for you.” Preston said, then he laughed loudly. “I see that look on your face, and yes, it is away from Mama Murphy.”

“Good, she creeps me the fuck out.” Zane replied clapping Preston on the shoulder. “Where is it?”

“Let me show you.” The pair started to walk away, quickly leaving Hailey in the dust. She trailed behind them, catching snippets of their conversation about the Brotherhood and the Railroad. Hailey looked around, walking slowly and surveying the familiar surroundings. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, calming her nerves before arriving at the doorstep of the faded teal house. She smiled sadly at the black rusted Corvega in the carport. Despite Sturges’ attempts, Preston wouldn’t let anyone scrap the car, or for that matter go in Hailey’s house at all, apart from Codsworth. People wanted to see where Hailey had begun, prewar and post war. Preston was too protective and respectful of Hailey’s privacy to let anyone snoop through her belongings, no matter how destroyed or rusted they might be.

Hailey came face to face with the old orange door and she hesitated slightly, listening to the sound coming through the busted-out window frames. She could hear Danse rummaging around inside the house, most likely unpacking her rucksack and organizing everything for her. She could also hear the radio, and more surprisingly Danse humming to the song coming from the speakers. Hailey stood there just listening to him hum, and occasionally sing a couple of the words from the chorus. She had never heard him hum or sing, even when he was alone fixing weapons or patching armor. Hailey reached for the door knob as quietly as possible hoping to catch him in the act, so she could ask him about it.

“You really trying to sneak up on me, Miller?” Came Danse’s voice from behind the door. Hailey cursed under her breath. “Hey, _language._ ”

“Can you hear everything?” Hailey said, whipping open the front door and strolling in.

“No, not everything. That’d be really annoying.” Danse said winking as he continued about the house. Hailey scanned over her belongings which had been sorted and were resting on the breakfast bar next to the worn out Grognak comic. She rolled her eyes at Danse then proceeded to walk over to the kitchen table to begin unarming herself. Hailey pulled Righteous Authority off her back, along with her sniper rifle. She pulled Deliverer from her thigh holster and carried it back to her bedroom to place on her nightstand.

“Where are you staying tonight Danse?” She called from the bedroom as she proceeded to pull off the navy-blue coat and hang it up on a hook fixed to the wall.

“I thought maybe here… on the couch of course.” Came Danse’s voice from the doorway. Hailey jumped and turn around quickly, heart racing. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine, I just didn’t hear you.” Hailey rubbed her chest trying to ground herself. “Are you sure you want to sleep here? That couch isn’t the comfiest, I’m sure Zane’s pla-”

“Hailey. You’re not staying alone.” Danse cut her off, his brow furrowing while Hailey kicked her boots to the side. “I’ll be on the couch if you need anything. I’m also stopping people from waking you up.”

“Fine.” Hailey puffed slightly. “Thank you Danse. It means a lot… I never thought you’d come with me.”

“You’re welcome.” Danse hesitated and Hailey thought he was going to say something else. She stared at him as he opened and closed his mouth, red slowly creeping up his neck. He turned from the doorway and she could hear him stop about ten steps down the hallway and sigh. Hailey frowned slightly and climbed into bed. She pulled the covers up, shivering slightly from how cold and empty the bed was and fell asleep as soon as she warmed up a bit.

-0o0-

Danse sighed in the hallway, leaning his head against the wall. He wanted to tell Hailey how he felt, how she made him feel. Danse was too nervous, too anxious for her to shut him down. There’s no way she could like him. He was rude to her, one too many times. He continued to mope as he laid down on the couch and shut the lights off. The Commonwealth at night was something he felt he’d never get used to. Danse had adjusted so well to the roar of the Prydwen, that any small sound he heard would wake him from a dead sleep. He knew he was the best person to keep an eye on Hailey and that he could take care of her. He stared up at the ceiling day dreaming of sunnier, more peaceful days than these. Where he could simply hang out with Hailey, get to know her and hear anything she wanted to tell him. Danse could feel his eyes get heavier as Hailey danced through his mind. He closed them, and they burned slightly from exhaustion, even though sleep felt like a faraway destination.

They snapped open again as sounds came from the back of the house. More specifically from Hailey’s room. He stood up and creeped back there, just to make sure she was okay. When he peaked his head in the doorway of her bedroom, he could just barely see her form huddled up in the blankets, shaking silently.

“Hailey?” He whispered. She sniffed loudly, and he could see her slender arm come out of the blankets to what he assumed was her face. “It’s okay Hailey… please don’t cry.” Danse leaned against the doorway as she started to clear her throat.

“I’m sorry… did I wake you?” Hailey croaked. Danse stepped closer into her room.

“No, of course not. Why are you apologizing to me?” Danse asked remaining as quiet as possible.

“Because you don’t deserve any of this. You shouldn’t have to take care of me, I should be able to take care of myself.” Her voice started to waver a little more. “After everything I’ve seen, done and lived through, I let some twenty-one-year-old break me with words and a punch to the face.”

“He wasn’t just some twenty-one-year-old, Hailey. You obviously cared for him…” Danse started to say before he continued on more recklessly. “Actually, he was a fucking dick, always has been always will be. He manipulated your kindness, took advantage of you and abused you. As your friend, I will never let him get close to you again, and if he tries, I will kill him myself. I’m sorry I ever let that happen to you Hailey.” Danse walked further into the room, and he sat on the floor with his back against the side of her bed. “I was a bad friend Hailey, I let my jealousy blind me to how Maxson was treating you. It eventually defeated me, which is why I didn’t fight the transfer to the police station. I should have though, I’ll regret that for the rest of my life.” Danse exhaled slowly trying to comprehend all the words that had spilled out of his mouth. Hailey remained silent and his anxiety grew with the longer she remained silent. He began to open his mouth again, but he felt her move on the bed behind him and her legs swung down next to him.

“Danse, stand up.” Hailey said, her voice ringing clear through the darkness. He stood and faced her, looking down at her pale face in the darkness. He tentatively put a hand up to her face, and ran his fingers lightly against the purple skin. She leaned into his touch ever so slightly, closing her eyes. Danse brought his other hand to the back of her head and dipped his head down to hers. As soon as his reckless streak was there, it vanished almost immediately as he averted his lips to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. He could feel her breath tickling his neck as she relaxed further into their embrace.

“Sleep back here with me tonight please.” Hailey whispered, just loud enough for him to hear against his chest.

“Of course.” He replied without even thinking twice about it. They climbed into the bed together, which seemed to be custom made and was bigger than any bed he’d ever slept in. Hailey curled her leg around his and rested her head on his chest while he laid on his back. Danse could get used to this feeling. Her warm body against his, while his fingers combed through her hair. Within minutes her breath deepened, her body relaxed, and she appeared to be asleep. Danse had never felt more at peace or more content than at this moment. He quickly fell asleep and for the first time in years, Danse didn’t dream.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay as usual, love seeing the random comment here and there despite me being a lazy piece of poop and not updating often. Hopefully this chapter is everything you wanted and more.


	23. Way Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hailey meets with The Railroad in Sanctuary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by Bob Crosby.

Hailey woke up to a sun beam falling directly across her eyes. She groaned, reaching to the nightstand to grab her Pip-Boy and look at the time. Her head throbbed as she squinted at the screen, exhaling loudly when she saw it was just before noon, which explained why she woke up alone. She tossed the Pip-Boy back on the bedside table and laid back down on the mattress, staring up into the ceiling. Hailey groaned yet again as she stretched trying to pull herself from the fog she wanted to fall back into.

Through the gap in the curtains sunshine filled the room, dancing along the walls as the fabric waved slightly with the breeze. The room was warm and only getting warmer by the minute which motivated Hailey to swing her legs over to the edge of the bed, pulling herself to a sitting position. She brought her feet up quickly as they met a weird texture on the floor. She peered over the side of the bed and laughed. Dogmeat was asleep on his back with his long, pink tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. His paws twitched slightly as Hailey rose from the bed, but he didn’t stir otherwise when she sneaked out of the bedroom.

Hailey walked to the breakfast bar grabbing a pair of jeans and a white shirt and retreated back into the bedroom to change quickly before walking outside. She fought the urge to scream as she came into the bedroom and was welcome by Deacon laying on her bed.

“Nice, those the duds for the day? Twinsies.” He remarked, laughing at how wide Hailey’s eyes were. “Cade and Zane filled us in already, but Des and I still wanted to meet with you.”

“I see Des was nice enough not to scare the shit out of me in my own house.” Hailey said sarcastically. “Go to the living room so I can change.”

“Whatever, the look on your face was totally worth it, she might have even smiled.” Deacon said, clapping Hailey on the shoulder as he passed her.

Hailey pulled off the tank top and shorts she had slept in and pulled on the jeans. She tossed the tee shirt over her head, taking extra care not to aggravate the bruise on her jaw anymore, and smoothed her hair down haphazardly before quickly braiding it. Hailey bent down to rub Dogmeat’s stomach which lead to him waking up and freaking out when he saw she was awake. After she had finally calmed him down and wiped the massive amount of brown and black hair off her shirt, Hailey strolled back out of the bedroom to the living room, Dogmeat close behind.

Cigarette smoke hit her nose as soon as she walked into the living room and was met by Des and Deacon sitting on the red couch. Hailey rounded the side of the couch, settling in a nearby arm chair.

“Well you look like you’ve went through hell and back, Charmer.” Des remarked, eyes scraping over Hailey’s face and jaw.

“You’re telling me.” Hailey said. “So Cade, huh?”

“Doc has been with me since the Capital Wasteland days. He was one of my original backers when they voted me into the alpha spot.” Des said, smiling slightly as she pulled a long drag off her cigarette.

“Interesting, how come I’ve never heard that story?” Deacon inquired.

“Because I wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible, and I didn’t need God and everyone in the Railroad knowing about it.” Desdemona replied simply, to which Deacon opened his mouth to argue but then started to nod. “Exactly, you might be a secret agent, but dear Lord you run your mouth.”

“It’s one of my less desirable qualities, I’ll give you that.” Deacon said, coughing out a laugh. “So, you went into the Glowing Sea.”

“Yes, I did. Only bad part was Virgil was already dead when we got there. Luckily from the notes I’ve found we can build a device that allows entry into the Institute.” Hailey paused, looking at Deacon and Des.

“Well?” Deacon said, obviously impatient.

“Get this… teleportation.” Hailey said, leaning forward and putting her elbows on her knees. “No one can find the entrance because there isn’t one.” Deacon mimed explosions coming from his head while Des leaned forward, stance matching Hailey’s.

“How?” She inquired, eyes gleaming with curiosity. “We’ve never been this close to something of this magnitude.”

“Well, according to his notes, the Institute coursers have a chip in their head that allows them to hijack a radio signal from the classical music channel to teleport them in. So, if we get an intact courser chip, we can build what Virgil referred to as a molecular relay. I have the blueprints. I think Tom can take a look at it.” Hailey explained, walking over to her rucksack and pulling out the blue folder she kept Virgil’s notes in. She handed the notes over to Des who pawed through them greedily.

“It’s been so long since we’ve had a courser chip. I hope Tom still remembers what to do with it. Deacon and I will head back to HQ and update you when we have more plans. In the meantime, you have to find a courser. The only ones our agents have run into have always been around Bunker Hill and Cambridge area where we pass the synths through. I’d start there.” Des instructed, putting out her cigarette in the worn yellow ashtray on the coffee table. “Tom has said in the past that they interfere with radio frequencies, so I’d play around with the radio on your Pip-Boy while in that area. Also, Charmer… be careful. The coursers have taken out entire squads on their own. They are the best of the best, I’d bring back up if I were you.” Des stood with Deacon close behind as the pair left the house without another word.

Hailey exhaled deeply and wandered back to her bedroom to grab and strap on her Pip-Boy. Her left arm had grown used to the extra weight and felt bizarre without the device. She stepped out into the sunlight, holding her hand up to her face until her eyes grew used to the brightness. Lowering her hand, she smiled as she saw Danse knelt on the ground at her rusted T-45 power armor scrubbing ferociously at the boot. She sauntered across the street to the yellow house, stopping to throw a gnarled stick for Dogmeat. At the sound of Dogmeat scampering away, Danse turned with a frown on his face. The frown changed to a smile as soon as his eyes met Hailey’s.

“Miller, didn’t I teach you to treat your armor better than this?” Danse called, wiping the sweat off his forehead leaving a dirt streak across his forehead. “Or did you even listen to me?”

“Hmm… you probably did but to be fair, I’m not home a lot and I never use power armor unlike you.” Hailey said, picking up a clean, but stained rag and tossing it to Danse. “You make that dirt look good.” Danse blushed while trying to scrub the dirt off. There was still a large streak of it now just smeared across a wider area.

“Jesus Danse, let me help you.” Hailey snatched the rag from Danse and walked over to a water spigot and wetted the fabric. She walked back over to Danse and gently cleaned the dirt off of his face.

“Remember your first time in Diamond City?” Danse said quietly as she focused on cleaning his forehead. “I had to do the same thing you’re doing now.”

“Yeah except it was blood and flecks of brains. Little more gross than just dirt.” Hailey replied distractedly. She took ahold of the side of his face and gently angled his head down so she could reach the top of his forehead. He jerked back, smiling slightly, making it hard for her to reach.

“Fine, do it yourself!” Hailey said, laughing as she walked inside. She nearly crashed into Zane who raised an eyebrow at her.

“So… what was that?” He said, a grin creeping over his face.

“What?” Hailey replied, feeling her neck getting red as she tried to play it off.

“What was that?” Zane repeated, eyes glistening with excitement.

“What?” Hailey repeated back, feigning confusion.

“What wa…fuck you. You’re doing that on purpose.” Zane poked Hailey in the center of the chest then moved away from her, waves of annoyance radiating off of him. He beelined straight for Danse, slugging him on the shoulder. “Hey bud, come with me, I got shit we can do.” Danse looked at Hailey and shrugged wandering away with Zane chattering incessantly.

Hailey walked into the yellow house finding her colonel sitting at the dining room table.

“I sent Zane on a useless mission, he was driving me up the goddamn wall.” Preston said, taking off his hat and setting it on the table in front of him. “Figured you’d want some time just to vent to me anyways.”

“You’re right as usual.” Hailey replied. She began to fill Preston in on everything from her relationship with Maxson, her ties to the Railroad, the plans for the courser, and her plan to get into the Institute.

“Jesus Christ… Well I’m sure both Sturges and the Railroad can build that machine from the blueprints. We can build it here, no one other than Minutemen or the Railroad comes up here, with the exception of Haylen.” Preston remarked, and Hailey could see the wheels turning in his head. “Obviously you’re taking Danse and Zane with you for the courser, right?”

“I don’t think Danse would let me go alone honestly.” Hailey sighed. “I have other news for you.”

“Uh oh.” Preston said winking, then grinning. “Couldn’t have anything to do with why Danse came out of your house this morning, could it?”

“Shush, it wasn’t that. I was crying in bed last night, because well yeah, and Danse came back to my room.” Hailey smiled slightly at Preston, embarrassed. “He hugged me, acted like he was going to kiss me, then hesitated. I don’t understand that. Do you think he likes me? It wasn’t a hug like you and I, there was definitely more behind it. Anyways, he stayed back there with me all night. We didn’t do anything else, just slept and it was the best sleep I’ve gotten in a while.”

“I’ve always thought that Danse had a soft spot for you, and Emily confirmed it. She can’t keep a secret from me to save her life.” Preston looked at Hailey’s confused expression. “Just give him time. You know him, he’s a little hesitant to say the least. He was also probably thinking about what just happened with Maxson, probably doesn’t want to rush you.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right… Who’s Emily?” Hailey asked, her brain searching people in the Minutemen.

“Haylen. Her first name is Emily.” Preston said laughing. “How don’t you know that?”

“Oh! I don’t know, never came up. How is that going by the way?” Hailey leaned forward. “How is everything going? Your turn to vent.”

-0o0-

Danse and Zane walked towards the back of the cul de sac where Zane’s place in Sanctuary was. They stood outside for a second while Zane finished the cigarette he was puffing on then they both went inside and settled themselves on the couch. Zane cast a look towards Danse with his eyebrow raised.

“So… stayed at Hailey’s last night, huh?” Zane said as serious as he could manage.

“It wasn’t like that…” Danse started.

“I know, I’m just giving you shit.” Zane cut him off before Danse could stick his foot in his mouth. “What did happen though? Just out of curiosity, not because Preston and I are giant gossips or anything.”

“Well, I was asleep on the couch and she was crying so I woke up, and I went back there to check on her. We started talking, eventually she hugged me, I almost kissed her, but really chickened out. Then she asked me to stay with her.” Danse fumbled over the words. “I really hope it’s not a rebound from Maxson, I feel like I should just give her space for now…” He said before he could stop himself.

“Nah, to be honest with you man, I think she liked you first, but you were such a dick and a hard ass at the same time that she just, y’know, went to Maxson.” Zane cracked open a beer, which he handed to Danse and then opened another for himself, taking a long drink out of it. “What do I know though? I’m just a spy for the Railroad and one of her best friends.”

“Great reassurance. So, didn’t Preston give us something to do?” Danse said taking a sip of the warm pilsner.

“Yeah but I know it was bullshit just to get me to leave him alone.” Zane laughed. “I was in there for like three hours just asking him the weirdest questions I could think of.” Danse started to laugh with Zane and they clinked their beers together just as Hailey and Preston walked through the front door. Danse felt his nerves soar in his stomach when he made eye contact with Hailey and he suddenly grew interested in the wrapper on the brown bottle in his hands.

“Working hard or hardly working guys?” Hailey said, shoving Zane to the side so she could steal a beer. Danse grabbed it from her, and she made a noise to protest which turned into a thank you when he cracked open the bottle for her and returned it.

“We need to talk guys, move to the table.” She commanded as she sat down at Zane’s mismatched dining set. All three men responded immediately to her, Zane groaning as he stood up from the couch.

“Long story short, we have to kill a courser if we want into the Institute.” Hailey said, spreading some papers out onto the table. Danse glanced over the papers, looking at the well-drawn map of Cambridge and Bunker Hill. “I was thinking the best way to do this would be working our way from Cambridge Polymer labs, here.” She pointed to the landmark on the map and trailed her finger along as she spoke. “Around the back of C.I.T. and right by Kendall Hospital then onto Bunker Hill. My Railroad business has taken me to Kendall before and I think there’s a high possibility of seeing another courser in those parts.”

“Coursers are extremely difficult to kill, they’re the creme de la creme.” Zane said, looking at Hailey. Danse shifted uncomfortably in the small chair.

“Yeah, I know, that’s what Des and Deacon said this morning.” Hailey replied, frowning at the map in concentration.

“What? They were here and didn’t tell me? I always miss them.” Zane said, crossing his arms in a fake pout.

“Toughen up, it was a fast meeting.” Hailey looked at the three of them. “I will obviously need back up on this. Preston will be staying here because if something were to happen to the both of us, it would set the Minutemen back to the beginning and I’m not sacrificing that. So, Danse, Zane, you guys in?”

“Danger is my middle name.” Zane replied, leaning forward eagerly. “When do we go?” Danse cleared his throat.

“Of course, I’m in. We can leave tomorrow?” Danse said grabbing a sheet of the paper and scanning over the map near C.I.T. “How do we know where to find it?”

“Des and Deacon said that they will interfere with my Pip-Boy radio signal. So, when we start walking, you guys will be the lookout and I’ll focus on that.” Hailey looked towards Preston. “How stocked is the general store here?”

“Should be stocked enough, if not, Abernathy is just across the river. I imagine Connie will give you a good deal on whatever you need.” Preston replied. “If you do go across, I’ll come with you, I need to get out of here every now and then.”

“Alright, tomorrow morning we’ll head out. For now, let’s stock up.” Hailey rose from the table and the trio followed suit. She lead the way around Sanctuary, stopping to chat with random people that Danse didn’t recognize. Danse had really never paid attention to her attitude and demeanor when she was interacting with her settlers. Hailey carried herself higher, holding her chin up but still remaining warm and friendly in any and all interactions. She had manners and eloquent speech, reminding him of a friendlier Arthur. She really was a born leader; people listened to what she had to say, and respected and valued her opinion. Danse really admired that about her.

Danse had never felt like that when speaking to his subordinates. He always stumbled across his words, though he still managed to get his point across. Hailey on the other hand, spoke with ease, assigning jobs, praising crop growth amongst other compliments and criticisms. Hailey turned and smiled at him, her face lighting up in the most beautiful way. She seemed to glide over to his side, still beaming up at Danse.

“What are you staring at, Danse?” Hailey laughed.

“Just… you. You work so well with the settlers, I’ve never really seen that side of you before.” Danse replied, and she blushed slightly.

“That’s just who I am. The Hailey in the Brotherhood wasn’t the true me.” She looked down at the ground. Danse put a finger underneath her chin, tilting her face up towards his so she’d look at him.

“Good, you were kind of a jerk.” He started laughing as she pulled away from him, hitting him on the arm playfully, a surprised look on her face.

“Hey lovebirds! We’re all done here!” Zane called at them from the market, Hailey flipping him off in return but stayed close next to Danse as they walked back to Preston and Zane.

“Since when did you get funny?” Hailey said, playfully bumping Danse, causing him to stumble. He tried to bump her back but almost knocked her over. He grabbed her around the waist, steadying her while laughing and apologizing profusely.

“It’s… fine…” She choked out in between her laughs. They finally reached Preston and Zane who were suppressing their shit eating grins while looking at the pair. Danse looked at Zane and had a hard time not laughing again.

“So, are we going to Abernathy?” Danse said, looking at the box of ammo in Zane’s hand.

“Yeah probably, they didn’t have really enough fusion cells for us all.” Zane remarked looking out over the horizon towards the farm.

“I have some at the Rocket too, we can stop by there.” Hailey piped in. “Let’s just drop that off at my place first.” She said, gesturing to the ammo and supplies in Zane’s hand.

“Sounds like a plan Stan.” Zane replied, turning back towards the group and leading them off towards Hailey’s house. While they walked, Danse took a closer look around at Sanctuary, watching the settlers work and chat. It was peaceful up here, separated from the rest of the Commonwealth. Danse was nervous about not being in the Brotherhood, but it’d be nice to relax one day with Hailey out in the sun. Zane jogged up the walkway, setting the ammo inside and quickly returned back out into the street with Danse, Hailey, and Preston. They all chatted while walking to the Red Rocket and Danse was genuinely enjoying himself. When they reached the Red Rocket, Hailey stopped them at the entrance.

“Alright I’ll be really fast, just gonna shove them in my backpack.” She started to head into the gas station and was followed by Zane.

“I’m gonna help her.” He called back to Preston and Danse.

-0o0-

Hailey wandered into the garage of Red Rocket, Zane hot on her heels.

“So, I talked to Danse.” Zane said, leaning against the workbench.

“Oh yeah?” Hailey said distractedly, while she rummaged around the garage.

“Yeah, and well he obviously likes you.” Zane ooo’d from the workbench as Hailey opened a green steam trunk full of ammo. “He’s just nervous because of the Maxson thing.”

“No, he’s just nervous because he’s Danse and that’s what he does. He’s a worrier.” Hailey remarked sorting through the ammo boxes.

“Sounds like someone else I know.” Came Zane’s voice from behind her. “I mean obviously you like him… so why not just make a move already, for the love of God!”

“We’ll see, I’ll think about it.” She gathered up her bag and slung it across her back, walking back into the main area of the gas station. Zane continued to follow and pester her until she gave him a beer.

They made their way towards Abernathy Farm through the dead grass and occasional brush. The sun was beginning to get lower in the sky while Hailey checked her Pip-Boy. The time was just past 4:30 and she could see the top of the farmhouse peeking over the hill. As they got closer Hailey could see Blake out in the tomato garden tending to his crops, and he looked up and waved at Hailey.

“Well hey there General, what can we do for you today?” Blake said, nodding at the three men with Hailey.

“I’m looking to buy some stuff from your wife, she around? While I’m here, might as well ask if you need anything from me or Colonel Garvey?” Hailey responded with a warm smile.

“No, honestly think we’re all good! Connie is with Lucy out back by the melon patch.” Blake responded as he pointed around the building.

Danse, Hailey, Zane, and Preston all bought ammo and some scrap from Connie and headed back towards Sanctuary as the sun was setting. Hailey’s stomach growled and she hoped that they still cooked community dinners like they did the first couple of nights.

“Yeah, I’m hungry too.” Preston remarked, touching his stomach.

“Was it that loud?” Hailey looked over at Preston, slightly embarrassed.

“Yeah, but I have really good hearing as well.” Preston responded, laughing.

They continued their short walk back to Sanctuary, passing through the entrance and heading straight towards Hailey’s house to drop off their supplies. Preston let them know that they still ate dinner in a group for the most part and lead them to a barn they had built. They all chattered, ate and drank their fill and slowly started to separate for the night. Preston headed off towards his house, telling Hailey he would talk to her before they left tomorrow morning, no matter how early it was. Zane, Hailey, and Danse headed back to the house to start preparing for the trip to Cambridge tomorrow. The group remained relatively quiet while packing and sorting out their belongings, with the occasional question of who was carrying what. Zane eventually bid them both a good night and headed off into the darkness to catch a few hours of sleep. Hailey and Danse sat down on the couch together, spaced awkwardly apart.

“Big day tomorrow.” Danse said quietly. “Are you ready for it?”

“I guess…” Hailey said, looking over at Danse.

“What’s on your mind?” Danse said scooting closer to her. “You know you can talk to me about anything.”

“I know… it’s just…” Hailey looked down at her hands in her lap. “What if it doesn’t work? What if we kill the courser, get the chip, then still can’t get into the Institute?”

“Hey, don’t think like that. It’s better to try, and have it fail than to not try at all.” Danse reached over and softly grabbed one of her hands. “Look at me.” Hailey turned her head, looking directly into Danse’s brown, honey eyes. “I will never let anything happen to you again, and if it doesn’t work… I’ll still be here for you, we’ll keep trying. I will not stop until we find your son.” Hailey leaned back slightly, still looking at Danse. She took a moment before answering to really look at him. His tanned, slightly freckled face and the soft curve in his lips. Most of all the determination in his eyes, his promise to her. Her eyes fell back down to their hands.

“I’m having a hard time with this Danse.” Hailey said, and as the words escaped her mouth she could feel herself physically deflate. Danse started to pull his hands away from hers, and she clung onto them. “Not that, just… I miss Nate.”

“I can’t even imagine how that feels, losing a spouse. I lost Cutler, my best friend, and that nearly killed me.” Danse absentmindedly rubbed his thumbs on her hands, tracing small circles. “I was not in a good place for a very, very long time.”

“I feel like I’m doing okay but then something reminds me of him, and I’m back to square one.” She looked up at Danse, who was staring at her face intently. “I feel like it makes it easier that everything looks so different from the bombs. Nothing is the same anymore, and I don’t see him in a lot of places, if that makes sense.”

“I get what you’re saying to a point. It was hard for me to leave the Capital Wasteland because it felt like I was leaving behind Cutler, but it helped in the long run because I didn’t see him everywhere I looked.” Danse sighed, looking out into the pitch-black night. “It still doesn’t stop the hurt, the emptiness, or the grief. That just comes with time. There is no cure to that unfortunately, and if I could take that pain away from you, I would a million times over.” Danse lifted her hands gently and pressed his lips against them. Hailey smiled at him warmly and stood from the couch.

“I think it’s time to go to bed…” She paused for a moment, a nervous wave rippling over her. “Are you coming with me?” Danse smiled widely at her.

“Of course I am.” He responded. “Lead the way.”


	24. Mighty Mighty Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greenetech Genetics witch hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by Roy Brown.

Hailey walked into the living room, greeted only by the dim light of dawn. She cracked open a can of water and slipped on some worn down sneakers, heading out the front door. Mornings in the Commonwealth were relatively peaceful, but Hailey didn’t make it a habit to experience it often. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she made her way into the yellow house across the street.

Hailey knocked on Preston’s bedroom door then sat down at the dining room table, picking at the worn vinyl. About five minutes later a very bleary-eyed Preston made his way to the table, throwing himself down in the chair.

“God, I said early but I didn’t mean this early.” He rasped, and Hailey passed him the can of water.

“Yeah, neither did I. Just couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d talk to you, then get Danse and Zane into gear.” Hailey paused as Preston took a long drink from the can. “While I’m on the mission, control of the Minutemen goes to you and the same goes for if anything were to happen to me.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you, Danse and Zane would never let it happen.” Preston replied. “I do have bad news though, part of it is the reason I’m so damn tired right now. Emily radioed last night. Maxson has put out shoot on sight orders for you, Danse, and Zane. Told everyone in the Brotherhood you’re deserters and a whole bunch of crazy shit.”

“What? Oh my god, what did Emily say?” Hailey leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table.

“She knows the whole story, as does Rhys. They said it’s causing quite the commotion. The soldiers can understand why you would leave, but Danse and Zane also leaving is bringing up a lot of questions that Maxson doesn’t necessarily have the answers to.” Preston sighed, looking across the street towards Hailey’s house. “As far as she knows, Maxson still hasn’t sent any search parties for you. Emily also mentioned that should you need anything, the police station is always a safe place for the three of you, no matter what.”

“That’s good to know… I’m just worried about running into patrols out in the Commonwealth.” Hailey put her face into her hands, exhaling loudly. “And what to do about the supply lines.”

“At this point, this is my advice to you, General. Keep the supply lines open, if Arthur was going to do something to them, it would have happened already. The patrol situation though, I guess be on your guard and don’t shoot until you’re shot at?” Preston sighed. “If you kill any patrol you come across it’ll open a war with the Brotherhood, but if you’re nonviolent with them, they could kill you any second.”

“This is going to kill Danse.” Hailey said, face still in her hands. “Not literally, but it’s going to put him down a peg. Despite their recent relationship, Arthur and him were friends. Now, to see Arthur turn on him so quickly… It’s disappointing to say the least.”

“Something tells me that Danse is better off without Arthur around.” Preston paused to yawn, then continued on. “That’s everything I have for you, be safe and get back by tonight, we’ll throw a little shindig. By that I mean a large dinner with a lot of alcohol. Emily, Rhys and Piper are joining us as well.”

“Sounds good. Time to go get the boys I guess.” Hailey stood from the table, gave Preston a quick hug then made her way towards Zane’s house.

Hailey had to almost physically shake Zane to get him out of bed, but with a lot of cussing and complaining, he was finally standing and en route to the coffee. Hailey walked into the bedroom at her house, surprised to see Danse sitting upright on the bed.

“Hey.” She said softly, sitting down next to Danse.

“Morning.” He replied, smiling at her.

“You must have slept well; your hair is just a little ruffled.” She put a hand in his hair, ruffling it a bit more and he leaned away, laughing.

“Did you go talk to Preston?” Danse asked.

“Yeah, and I even woke up Zane.” Hailey laughed as Danse raised his eyebrows. “I do have bad news though… Arthur put out a shoot on sight order on all of us.” Hailey paused, searching Danse’s face for any emotion at all.

“That’s what I expected… This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.” Danse responded. “What’s the plan?”

“What Preston and I came up with is act like everything is normal, but if we come across a patrol just be on guard. We won’t shoot until they shoot at us. According to Haylen, the Brotherhood is asking a lot of questions about why their highly revered Paladin just walked away.” Hailey placed a hand on Danse’s knee. “I’m sorry about this.”

“Don’t apologize. I knew what I was walking into.” Danse placed one of his hands over Hailey’s, wrapping it in a warm embrace. “You don’t ever have to apologize for a choice I made.”

“I know, it’s just…” Hailey stopped mid-sentence as Danse lightly lifted her chin up with the tip of his finger.

“I know. Stop worrying about it.” Danse said quietly, leaning closer to Hailey. Her heart started to race as she moved her face closer to his.

“WELL HEY, HEY, HEY! LOOK WHO’S ALL READY AND YOU GUYS AREN’T!” Zane yelled from the living room. “GET OUT OF BED, TIN CAN AND GENERAL!”

Hailey closed her eyes and let out a small huff of disappointment as she stood up to rush into the living room and silence Zane before he woke the whole damn neighborhood up.

“ _Shut the hell up!_ ” Hailey hissed as she jogged into the hallway.

“Hey there sunshine!” Zane said, fully alert. “If I have to get up, everyone is getting up. Now hurry up, we’re losing precious time.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a pain in the ass?” Hailey said, rolling her eyes as she pulled on her blue trench coat.

“No, _never._ ” Zane said dramatically, throwing himself down on the couch. Danse came out of the bedroom, dressed in a flannel and jeans.

“Going for the casual wear, eh Danse? I like it. It screams ‘I love chopping wood.’” Zane commented.

“Don’t really have much of a choice right now.” Danse remarked as he pulled on the worn-out combat boots that were laying by the front door. He began to strap his armor on and Hailey watched him struggle with the buckles for a bit before stepping in to help him. They grabbed as much ammo as their packs would carry, a couple of hand grenades, and a surplus of stimpacks, if worse came to worst.

Hailey waved at the guard as they crossed over the bridge and out into the wasteland. Their walk was long but surprisingly quiet. They came across the occasional pest but the bloodbugs or stingwings were no match for the firepower the trio held. As they passed the police station on the lower road, Hailey could see Danse cast an anxious look towards the blue and grey building. She gently bumped into him, pulling his attention away from the station. She smiled at him when his eyes met hers and he returned it. The warmth didn’t reach his eyes as much as it usually did, and Hailey’s heart ached for him.

They found themselves in front of the C.I.T Rotunda building, the sun shining brightly off the white marble. Hailey fiddled with her radio, turning it to the lowest frequency it would reach. They rounded the east side of the rotunda and slight feedback came through the speaker of the Pip-Boy.

“There! That’s the feedback, let’s keep heading east.” Hailey exclaimed as Danse and Zane paused in their patrol to listen.

They walked slowly turning north towards Kendall Hospital. Just as the hospital building appeared, the feedback stopped. The trio retreated south again, this time settling for a street in the middle of the area, and headed east. The feedback became more and more frequent as a large green skyscraper came into view. Hailey jumped as she heard a muffled explosion.

“Greenetech Genetics.” Danse said surely, referencing to the building. “That could be what we’re looking for judging by how strong the feedback is now and the noises coming from inside.”

“Great, the party started without us.” Zane said sadly, kicking a pebble in frustration. “I am always fashionably late though, might as well keep that trend going.” He skipped a little off towards the front of the building. “How bad can it be?”

When they entered the skyscraper, screams echoed throughout the building. Some of pain and anguish, and other of rage. Judging by the bodies on the floor, the Gunners were stationed here fighting something.

“ _The courser is on the third floor! He’s coming for the girl!”_ A voice called out frantically over the old P.A. system.

“Huh… you think this is the right place?” Zane called back over his shoulder as he lead Hailey and Danse into the open and up the stairs. He was answered by an explosion about three floors above him. “Yeah, I think we’re in the right place.”

The voice that originally announced the location of the courser would occasionally scream the location again. Hailey, Danse and Zane had eventually run into some stray Gunners when the man on the P.A. loudly announced their presence.

“ _There’s a trio on the fifth floor, do not let them reach the top!”_ The man voice crackled through the speakers.

“Alright, game time!” Danse said from behind Hailey as three Gunners raced across the sky bridge at them. Hailey dropped one of them almost immediately with her 10mm, then sank one or two bullets into the others before Danse and Zane gunned them down. They continued to run up stairs until eventually reaching an elevator.

“Well, there’s only one way to go from here, and it’s not the stairs, god damn it.” Zane huffed as they slammed the button on the wall. With a quiet ding the doors slid open and a gunner came running out, failing a knife wildly, cutting a nice section of Hailey’s forearm. She exclaimed before being thrown back by Danse, who hopped in front of her, rapidly firing his laser rifle at the man, who dissolved into a pile of ashes.

“We need to get a room where we can patch her up.” Danse said, kneeling at Hailey’s arm. She grimaced as he poked and prodded around her torn sleeve.

“It’s not that bad, I’ll be fine.” Hailey tried to stand, but Danse put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down to the ground. She groaned as she looked at the cut and blood which had begun to drip off her hand. “Okay maybe I do need it patched up.”

“That’s exactly what we brought all those damn stims for.” Zane wandered into a room just to the right of the elevator and poked his head back out to say it was all clear. Danse helped Hailey up from the ground, and over into the room. Zane stood just outside the door, watching for any more stragglers they might have missed. Danse cleared off a spot on the counter at the front of the room and lifted Hailey up to sit on it. She gently pulled off her jacket, hissing as her arm scrapped against the sleeve. Danse furrowed his brows as he dug through their bags, pulling out some bandages and a stimpack.

“Alright, you know the drill. Big pinch.” Danse said quietly as Hailey gripped his shoulder, letting out a small yelp. He injected the stim directly into the wound, in four or five spots. Danse grabbed Hailey’s hand gently from his shoulder and guided it to her arm, placing a stack of gauze in her open palm.

“Apply pressure while that stim takes effect.” Danse took a moment to look at her and touch her hair affectionately with his cleaner hand. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just surprisingly stings a lot. Ya know, needles don’t really make it better.” Hailey huffed as Danse chuckled lightly.

“I beg to differ.” He said, as he pulled her hand full of gauze away from the cut which had stopped bleeding and was beginning to turn pink in spots. Danse wrapped her forearm tightly, then brought his lips to her forehead. “No more getting hurt. Next time we won’t be able to patch it up.”

“Alright, alright.” Hailey said, pulling on the overcoat again. “I’m gonna have to patch that later.” She remarked, staring at the large gash in the navy blue material.

“Let’s take all day, shall we?” Zane said, flourishing his hand and bowing before leading the pair to the elevator.

“God you’re so sassy today, I can barely handle it.” Hailey rolled her eyes as the door on the elevator shut, plunging them into complete darkness. The elevator climbed slowly, and Hailey began to sweat. Being shoved into an elevator with Danse and Zane, along with all their gear made for a tight fit.

“Is that a fusion cell in your pocket Danse, _or are you just happy to see me?_ ” Zane purred through the darkness and the three of them burst into the laughter.

The elevator groaned and came to a stop just as the trio regained their seriousness. The doors slid open to an empty room with another set of stairs in the corner. As they made their way up the stairs, a male’s voice could be heard.

“Pl-Please… I don’t know!” The male then started to scream. “I DON’T KNOW, I REALLY DON’T! PL-” There was a strange gurgling sound and more voices started to cry out.

“Listen to me gentlemen. I’m going to make myself, _very_ clear.” A male’s voice said cooly. “That was humane. Now, _give me the password.”_

Zane turned and looked at Hailey and Danse. They crouched together, eyes darting from face to face. Another man started to scream as they heard a loud snap. Hailey’s stomach lurched from the noise.

“We have to go now, guns blazing while he doesn’t expect it.” Hailey hissed quietly as the man cried out again. “Remember, no shots to the head. We can’t risk damaging the chip.” Danse and Zane nodded and lined up against the wall outside of the room where the screams were coming from. Hailey saw Danse take a deep breath and close his eyes, waiting for the perfect moment. He snapped his eyes open as there was another loud crack and scream. Danse looked at Hailey for a split second, with what appeared to be a small look of fear in his eyes, then he darted around the corner, firing his rifle wildly. Zane and Hailey burst into the room behind him. Hailey saw three gunners leaned against the wall, one with his throat cut, and one was crying hysterically. The last one was screaming looking down in horror at his leg, which had been broken mid-calf and she could see white poking through the mangled flesh.

“Hailey! DOWN!” Danse yelled as a bright blue beam just barely missed her. “He’s popped a stealth boy!”

Hailey rolled to the side and continued to dodge a barrage of blue lasers coming from thin air. She looked closer as the lasers paused and she assumed he was reloading. She could see a slight gleam to the air where the courser was standing.

“There! Look for the gleam, you can see him moving!” Hailey called out as she fired a couple of rounds into that area. “Conserve ammo, that things bound to run out soon!”

“Got him boss!” Zane called from her right flank, firing round after round into the general area of the courser, who was now easier to track with his return fire.

“Look, there goes the stealth boy!” Danse yelled from across the room, and Hailey followed his gaze to see a man in a black trench coat flickering in and out of thin air.

“Z2-47 for relay back.” The courser said from behind a pole where he was reloading.

“We have to kill him NOW!” Hailey screamed as she raced around to gain a better shot on him.

“I got it, I got it!” Zane yelled on the opposite flank of Hailey. He was slightly ahead of her and he shot a couple of rounds before dropping to the ground after a blue burst hit him in the stomach. Hailey screamed out for him, finally reaching the other side of the pole to find the courser laying dead on the ground, his eyes glazed over.

“Courser down!” Hailey yelled as she raced for Zane’s huddled form. “Danse, med bag now!”

Danse met her at Zane and tossed her the bag, while he rolled Zane onto his back and stretched him out. Hailey dug through the bag, tossing contents to the side until she reached a stimpack.

“Is it-is it bad?” Zane coughed from the ground, struggling to hold his head up so he could assess the blooming wound as they unzipped his jumpsuit. “Woah, you have to...buy me a drink…”

“Shut the hell up, I’m trying to work.” Hailey barked at him. “If I have to tell Piper that your last words were something that stupid, we’re gonna have a problem.”

Zane dropped his head back onto the ground, coughing out a laugh, which was quickly followed by a groan of pain. Hailey stared down at his side which had been grazed by the beam of the laser, then another shot closer in to his belly button.

“Alright, stimpack time. I can’t drug you, so I apologize in advance.” Hailey stabbed the needle into multiple places of both wounds. Zane whined and groaned as she worked, often over exaggerating his pain, and pretending to pass out and not respond when Hailey called his name. After about five minutes of patch work and bandaging, Zane stood with the help of Danse.

“Thanks man, I appreciate it.” Zane said seriously as he threw an arm around Danse’s shoulder. “Piggy back ride all the way home?” Danse laughed in response. Hailey let out a small sigh of relief, resting back on her heels as she surveyed the mess before her. She wiped her hands clean with some water and spare gauze. She jumped slightly as she heard the remaining gunners start to make noise again. Hailey stood up and walked over to them.

“What was that courser looking for?” She crouched to eye level with the gunner who was crying.   
“He-he wanted the girl.” The gunner said in between sobs, pointing at the window above his head.

“Girl?” Hailey stood again and came face to face with a young woman, eyes wide with fear. Hailey stepped closer to the glass staring at her. “Who is she?”

“Please, let me out!” The woman banged on the glass. “The password is in the red toolbox by the stairs!” Hailey wandered over to the toolbox and was stopped by Danse.

“Hailey… wait a second.” Danse shifted awkwardly, as Zane was still using him as support. “How do you know that this is a good idea?” Danse looked down at Hailey as she stepped forward to the toolbox, rolling her eyes.

“It’ll be fine, we have guns and she doesn’t.” Hailey said, snatching the white slip of paper up before Danse could grab it from her. “Just be on guard.”

Hailey walked over to the terminal, inputting the password. The computer dinged in response and the door slid open. The girl scampered out and ran out of the room without another word.

“Wow, that was really scary, Danse. Are you hurt?” Zane said snarkily from the side of Danse.

“I could drop you, you know.” Danse retorted.

“Eh, you’re too nice.” Zane responded, leaning his head on Danse’s shoulder in mock admiration.

“You guys are disgusting.” Hailey started laughing. “Let’s take a look at that courser, shall we? The whole reason we came here?”

“You mean the courser _I killed?_ ” Zane hobbled next to Danse as they all huddled around the body. “Does this make me a certified badass now?”

Hailey knelt down, pulling a combat knife out of the side of her boot. Luckily the courser fell face down and she didn’t have to roll him over at all. She could see a small patch of metal on the back of the courser’s neck. Hailey pulled at it gently but it didn’t budge.

“Looks like I’m gonna have to cut it out.” Hailey said with a grimace on her face.

She began to cut a small circle, not too deep and at an angle to loosen up the skin and muscle surrounding the chip. She heard Zane retch behind her as she pulled on the metal tab again and the chip slid from the courser’s head with a squelching noise. She grabbed an oily rag that was next to the tool box and cleaned off the blood, hair and skin.

“That’s fucking disgus-” Zane gagged again, effectively silencing him.

“Well, has to be done.” Hailey replied, matter-of-factly. She put the courser chip into a jar and threw it into her bag. “Let’s get out of here please.”

“I guess we’ll just limp all the way home then. That’s one thing I’m missing right now… on demand vertibird shuttles home.” Zane winced slightly as they bounced down the stairs, passing bodies of gunners stacked in the hallways.

The trip back to Sanctuary was slow, occasionally they stopped so Zane could take a couple of shaky, deep breaths. They reached the wooden bridge just as the sun dipped below the horizon. Hailey looked over at the men, surprised to see Danse looking at her. They both exchanged a grin and focused back onto the path in front of them. Hailey groaned as Piper flew into her, hugging her tightly.

“Oh my god! Preston filled me in on everything, a real courser?” Piper sighed then turned to Zane and took him from Danse. Zane straightened up with a smile and strode next to Piper chatting her ear off.

“Bastard was fine the entire time.” Danse muttered as he walked next to Hailey.

“Not the whole time, like right after the first stimpack I was fine.” Zane turned to wink at Danse then wandered off into his house, Piper in tow. He glared at Hailey and Danse through the window then flashed a smile just before pulling his makeshift blinds down.

“He’s ridiculous.” Hailey said pausing for a small second to stare at the blinds, then she started to wander towards Preston’s.

“Do you think they ate dinner without us?” Danse said as his stomach rumbled loudly.

“Nah, Preston always waits for everyone.” Hailey said laughing as she playfully patted Danse on the stomach. They both wandered into the house to find Preston and Haylen seated at the dining room table, faces grim in the candle light.

“Did you miss me?” Hailey said, setting the jar with the chip in it down on the table in front of Preston.

“You never fail to deliver General.” Preston said, his face lightening up at the sound of her voice. Haylen smiled widely and hugged Hailey and Danse. “We were starting to get worried.”

“Everyone still have all their body parts?” Haylen remarked, scanning Danse and Hailey up and down.

“Yeah, Zane got shot in the stomach, but he’s fine of course.” Hailey laughed and sank into the chair at the head of the table. Her feet throbbed in her shoes, and she kicked the boots off.

“I bet he wasn’t over-dramatic at all.” Haylen laughed and took a sip of the beer in front of her.

“He basically made me carry him all the way home.” Danse shook his head. “Then when he saw Piper, everything was fine and he was a manly man again.”

“Makes sense.” Hailey said. “Danse is too polite to ask but I can hear his stomach from here. Dinner?”

“Should be almost done, Codsworth was putting ‘finishing’ touches on it when I last checked, and that was about twenty minutes ago.” Preston stood from the table stretching his arms up towards the ceiling. Haylen stood up and slid an arm around him before he could put his arms down. She kissed him softly on the cheek and he lowered his arms around her, giving her a squeeze. Danse and Hailey exchanged a glance and small smile before they followed the pair out of the house.

Hailey jumped slightly as Danse’s rough hand slid against hers, his fingers lacing in between hers.

“OH MY MAN, YOU GO DANSE, YOU GO!” Came a voice from behind them. Hailey turned red, and looked over her shoulder to see Zane getting smacked repeatedly by Piper. Piper paused in the beating to give Hailey a thumbs up and continue to slap him. Hailey looked at Danse and laughed as she saw how red his face was.

“So…” Hailey began.

“Nope, we’re not talking about it right now, too embarrassed.” Danse cut her off before she could finish her thought.

“You know I just have to give you shit because you’re so hilarious when you’re flustered.” Hailey squeezed his hand and beamed up at him.

“How can I be mad at that beautiful smile?” Danse huffed. “That’s not fair.”

“Well life’s not fair, now sit down Danse.” Hailey said as they reached the community dining table. Danse’s stomach groaned in response to the sight that laid before them. Hailey’s mouth watered as she scanned the table, looking over the feast that was spread out.

“Yeah, I know.” Preston said smugly from her side. “Consider it a little celebration!”

“Celebration?” Zane called from the door of the barn, Piper in tow. “Where’s the beer and music then?”

Zane laughed as Preston handed him a bottle and flipped the radio on.

“I was only half-way joking, but I appreciate the sentiment, Hoss.” Zane clinked his bottle against Danse’s as they settled across from each other at the table. After everyone had settled in and got their first serving, Preston rose, beer in hand.

“Listen up everyone!” He called over the chatter. Slowly the noise died down and everyone turned to him. “I’m not very good at these things, so I’ll keep it short.” Preston paused again as there were a couple of chuckles from the crowd, including Hailey. Her best friend always claimed to keep it short, then they’d be there stuck talking forever. It seemed that more than one of her settlers had the same experiences with him.

“General, Hailey, The Woman Out of Time, The Sole Survivor. Whatever other nicknames people have given you…” Preston was cut off by Zane yelling ‘douchebag’. He grinned and continued. “When I first met you, you were a scared frail woman left alone in this world. Quickly you opened your heart to me, and your heart to the Commonwealth. You aid whoever is in need, maintain diplomatic relationships, navigate wasteland politics, and rule with an iron fist. When you’re set to do something, nothing will stop you.”

“Hear, hear.” Danse said from Hailey’s side, laughing and raising his beer glass. Hailey rolled her eyes at him and looked back at Preston.

“Today was a huge step for you. I’ve seen you blossom, wilt, and then blossom again. This time, stronger and brighter than ever.” Preston cleared his throat, and coughed quietly into his hand. “You’ve seen me do the same, and you’ve stayed with me through it all. Thank you for being you, General. Thank you for leading us in this hell hole, and trying desperately with everything you have left, to make it better for all of us.” Preston raised his bottle and everyone at the table did the same. Hailey wiped a tear from her eye and beamed at her best friend as he settled at the table again.

“Speech, speech, speech!” Zane yelled, full on knowing that he was throwing her under the bus. People clapped along with him as they chanted. Hailey rose from the table, heat rushing into her face.

“Thank you Preston, for those kind words.” Hailey stared at her feet for a minute, at a loss. “When I came into this world, I had no one. My husband was shot in front of me, and my baby stolen from his arms. I was lost in this world, driven by innate fear of death by someone else’s hand and the instinctual need to find my son.” She looked around at all the faces at the table, most familiar but some new. “The only reason I’m still alive today, is because of each of you. Whether I’ve talked to you extensively or casually, each of you contributed to my will to live.” Hailey paused again, shifting herself to speak to them more directly.

“Preston, my colonel and my first true friend in the Commonwealth. Thank you for showing me there is still kindness in this cruel world. Thank you for having faith in me, and trusting me to lead a cause so close to your heart.” Hailey sighed as she turned to Zane.

“Yeah, I love you fucker, I don’t need to explain why.” Hailey laughed with him as he feigned hurt. She worked her way around the table, talking about Sturges, Mama Murphy, Piper, and even Marcy Long. She finally came to the man on her left.

“Danse… I can’t even begin to explain how much your presence in my life has been a gift. You’re a true gentleman, and have shown me that you’re so much more than the awkward, quiet and bossy man that you first appeared as. I’m sure you’ve even grown on Preston.” They all laughed and Hailey raised her bottle and everyone at the table followed suite.

“Thank you to all of you, I thought I’d never have a family again after mine was destroyed by war. I’m proud to say that everyone here is my family now. I love you all, thank you for being you.” She drank deeply from the bottle and settled back into her chair next to Danse.

“Now General, about that broken turret…” Preston started, and the room burst into laughter as Hailey flipped him off. They all continued to chat and Danse’s arm found its way to the back of Hailey’s chair and she subconsciously leaned into him. She had a weird feeling of deja vu looking around the table, and Hailey remembered her first dinner in Sanctuary. The same feeling vibrated throughout her… love and sense of belonging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow a chapter posted like ten days after the last update?
> 
> What, what? Hopefully chapters flow as easy as the last two did.


End file.
